Shift
by biteyourtongue
Summary: Layla is not normal. In any sense of the word. So when she and her sisters move to Forks, WA, you can expect they'll shake things up. Jacob/OC. Rating for swearing and some content.
1. I Might Call It Hell

A/N: This one's been kicking around for a good while, but I kept losing interest...we'll see how she goes this time. I sincerely hope that my OCs are NOT Mary-Sues, and if they are, feel free to tell me so. I'll try to remedy that. Reviews are welcome, flames will be used to light my barbecue. Hope you enjoy.

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. I'm just borrowing. Believe me, if Jacob was mine...let's say I wouldn't be writing fics about him. I'd be doing, ahem, other things. Hehe.

**CHAPTER ONE**

**I Might Call It Hell**

Layla De Tonye hadn't been in town for very long, but there was one thing she was certain of; she hated Forks.

It was way too much like back home in England. Same sogginess, same green-ness...She found herself thinking that if she weren't already mostly mad, that town would be driving her to the brink of insanity.

That morning was her first day at Forks High School. The moment she drove into the parking lot, people started staring at her like she was an alien. Perhaps it was the fact she came in on a motorbike, or that she had several visible tattoos and piercings, or that her hair was short and shaggy like a boy's, but she honestly didn't understand why they were looking so closely. Everywhere she turned, there were curious eyes, testing her, judging her, labelling her. She hated it.

Pocketing her keys, she stalked over to the main office building. People moved out of her way as she walked, like she was Moses splitting the sea or something. She threw open the door as soon as she got there.

It was warm and fairly pleasant inside. A large, red-haired woman sat behind one of the three desks that sat beyond the long, room-dividing counter, and she looked up as Layla breezed through the door.

"Can I help you, dear?" she asked her with a smile.

"I'm Alayla De Tonye, I was told to come here as soon as I got in this morning..." Layla trailed off, uncomfortable. People in positions of authority had always irked Layla, but over the years she'd learned not to let it show.

"Ah, yes, welcome to Forks, Alaya!" she said merrily, digging through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk. "Here, I need you to get all your teachers to sign this, and here's your schedule, dear, do you think you could find all your classes?"

Layla took the schedule the secretary - Ms Cope - was holding out to her and glanced down at it. English, Chemistry, Art, Calculus, World History and Gym. "Yeah, it's all cool, Miss. Thanks for your help," she said, smiling at her politely before waltzing back out.

Back outside in the misting rain, Layla swore and looked at her schedule again. Period one was English, building three. _Okay, that shouldn't be _too_ difficult to find..._ she thought. _Right, who the hell am I kidding? I can drive at top speeds on a motorcycle without blinking, but try to tell me which building to go to and I am _screwed_._

She wandered further into the complex of buildings, glancing helplessly around for building three, musing that she must have been born without a sense of direction.

A hand tapped her shoulder lightly and she turned, bright green eyes wide. She was so caught up in trying to find her class that she was completely unaware of anything else. Standing before her now was a small, pixie-like girl of unnatural beauty and grace. She smiled helpfully at Layla. "Are you new?" she asked.

"Extremely," Layla replied wryly with a sigh. "I can't find _any_thing, my sense of direction is kak."

The other girl laughed. "I know the feeling," she said cheerfully. "Where's your first class?"

"English, building three."

"Ah, that's way on the other side beside the cafeteria. I'll show you, but we'll have to hustle to get you there on time," she said, putting a surprisingly strong hand at Layla's leather-clad elbow and steering her in the opposite direction from where she'd been going.

Soon enough, they stopped outside a class with a large black three beside the door; it was in plain view from the office building. Layla couldn't believe she'd missed it. She groaned.

The girl laughed. "Don't worry about it, everyone gets lost their first day. Have a good class!" And then she was gone, jogging quickly across the muddy yard to another building before Layla could even say 'thank you.' She shook her head and went straight in, standing in front of the teacher's desk until he looked up at her.

"Er, hi, sir, I was told you needed to sign this for me," Layla said awkwardly, holding out the yellow slip the secretary had given her.

"So you're our new student from Oxford?" Mr Smith asked curiously, scribbling his signature in the appropriate spot. He handed it back to Layla.

"Yes, sir," she replied sheepishly.

"There's a spot for you in the back there, Alayla," he said, smiling kindly at her, gesturing to the back of the room. Layla resisted the urge to correct him on the pronunciation of her name. There was only one empty seat, and she walked over and dropped into it with a sigh. There was a derisive snort from beside her, and she glanced over to see a tiny girl with masses of curly brown hair glaring at her.

"Something for you?" Layla asked warily, eyeing the girl in apprehension.

"Yeah, you can move," she sneered at Layla, tossing her hair. Layla raised an eyebrow.

"Look, mate, I dunno if you noticed, but this is the only empty spot in the class," Layla replied, looking at the front of the room. The bell rang just as the girl was about to reply, with something rude, no doubt, and Layla was very thankful.

"Alright, class, we have a new student today!" said Mr Smith cheerfully from the front of the room. Layla groaned and laid her head down on the desk. "Her name is Alayla De Tonye. Why don't you come up and tell us a bit about yourself, Alayla?"

Biting her lip at the mispronunciation, she raised her head and looked at the teacher. "If it's all the same, sir, I'd really rather not," she said quietly, ignoring the sniggers from around her.

"Really, Alayla, I insist," said Mr Smith, a steely look coming into his eyes. Layla sighed, stood and made her way to the front of the class, looking at Mr Smith balefully before turning to her classmates.

"Hullo," she said blandly. "I'm _AY-lay-lah_ De _Ton-yay_, call me Layla if you don't want to get into a punch-up. Yes, I know, it's a horrid name. I just moved here from Oxford because my dog was allergic to my neighbours." And with that, she went back to her seat, leaving Mr Smith looking incredulously after her. He shook his head and started the lesson.

Layla leaned back in her chair once she was back in it, pointedly ignoring the looks the bint next to her was shooting.

"You know, you're supposed to be more forthright than that," said a smooth male voice from her left. She turned just her head.

Beside her, lounging similarly in his chair, was the single-most gorgeous boy Layla had ever seen. Elegant, smooth features, pale skin, bronze coloured hair, and caramel coloured eyes. She snorted in an un-lady-like fashion.

"Well, what'd he want me to do, state my favourite colour?" Layla scoffed. "Please."

The boy grinned a sexy crooked smile and turned his face away, closing his eyes. Layla found herself thinking he had quite the right idea, because not only was this class super boring, but she'd already taken this stuff and she was lacking sleep. Jet-lag is a real bitch.

Layla was started awake when the bell rang, jerking forward in her seat and stubbing her toe. She muttered a curse and stood up, grabbing her bag and shrugging into her leather jacket that she'd slung over the back of her chair, walking to the door.

"Have a nice nap?" asked a kind voice from beside her. There was a cute blond boy walking next to her with a grin on his lips. He was one of the only boys she'd met so far who was taller than her.

Layla grinned back. "Rather refreshing, really," she said back with a chuckle, brushing her shaggy dark hair out of her face.

"So you're Alayla De Tonye," he stated, enunciating each syllable of her name slowly and carefully.

Layla leveled a glare at him. "Did you not hear what I said about the punch-up?"

"I did, but I don't know what you mean by 'punch-up'," he said teasingly, doing brutal air-quotes with his fingers. _Boys just can't seem to do sneer-quotes properly, _Layla mused to herself.

"Eh, punch-up, fist fight...." she shrugged.

He looked astonished. "You'd get into a fist fight because someone called you Alayla instead of Layla?"

"Would you want people calling _you _Alayla?"

The boy looked embarrassed. "Well, no. But I wouldn't beat someone up for it."

"I have, and probably will end up doing it again," answered Layla offhandedly, consulting her schedule again.

She could feel the boy looking at her incredulously and ignored him. "Hm, History next," she said thoughtfully to herself. "Maybe I can squeeze in another nap."

Layla ignored the boy as he spluttered and followed a crowd, all carrying history textbooks, to building six. It was near where the girl found her before classes and so kindly led her to building three. Upon entering the class, Layla went up to the front, got the teacher, Mrs Hayes, to sign her paper, and retreated to a seat in the very back corner of the room. The best seat in the entire class. All the people she'd followed here were sitting way up in the front row. Yuck.

Layla was aware of someone putting their bag down and sitting in the desk to her left, but paid them no attention. Class started, and thankfully, Mrs Hayes didn't make her introduce herself in front of the class. Of course, Mr Smith could have called her and warned her about Alay. Teachers gossip worse than fishwives. Layla yawned widely and closed her eyes, leaning back in her seat with her jacket against the wall as a pillow. A finger poked her hard in the ribs when she'd dropped off for a few minutes, and she swore, opening her eyes to glare at the boy who'd sat beside her in English. His beautiful crooked smile was mixed in with a smirk, and he was completely immune to the harsh glare Ala was giving him.

"What the hell was that for?" Layla hissed at him quietly, watching Mrs Hayes talking from her desk. She was droning about some war in ancient Greece, and nearly everyone was in a vegetative state. She could see clearly several people who were fast asleep, snoring softly in the case of one boy.

"You should pay attention to this," the boy told her, his smirk more pronounced.

Layla glowered at him. "Look, mate, I've already taken this bullshit. I don't need to pay attention, I know it all."

"Alayla, could you answer the question, please?" called Mrs Hayes from the front of the class with a stern expression on her face. She, like Mr Smith, mispronounced Layla's name. Several people jerked awake with muffled curses. The boy smirked widely at her.

"Could you repeat it, ma'am, this boy was whispering right beside me and I couldn't hear you," Layla requested, casting a significant glance at the now-outraged boy sitting next to her.

Mrs Hayes looked at him disapprovingly, clucking her tongue. "Edward Cullen, I know you are ahead in my class, but that is no reason to disrupt my other students. Do it again and you'll be in the office. Understood?"

The boy named Edward Cullen gave a sullen, "Yes, Mrs Hayes," and glared at Layla. She just smiled sweetly back and easily answered a question about war techniques in ancient Greece.

The bell rang and Layla went on her merry way to Art, where she spent a half-hour drawing fruit. Mr Cole was very impressed by her art skills and tried to commission her to do a mural in the gym. Layla politely declined, saying she needed to settle in more and get used to Forks before starting anything extra-curricular. Mr Cole sighed dispiritedly but let it drop. Since she'd finished before all her class-mates, Laya doodled absently with her coloured pencils. The bell signalled the end of class and she looked at her half-minded drawing – and promptly crumpled it up, a scowl settling itself on her lips. There had been straight, beautiful, pale features, tousled bronze hair, and butterscotch eyes...

Layla took her bike out during the lunch hour, speeding through the back roads as fast as she dared in her distracted state. She got out to the La Push reservation and grabbed a snack from their one tiny store, munched on the chocolate bar for the length of a beach, smoked a cigarette on the walk back to the parking lot, then hopped back on her bike and sped back. She showed up several minutes late for Calculus and used the, "I'm new," excuse.

She grumped her way through PE, scowling at anyone who dared to talk to her; her bad mood seemed to scare people off. The small, bitchy brunette from English, and her Calculus class too, hit Layla in the head with her badminton racket purposely, trying to act innocent. Layla glared down at her, snatched the racket from her hand, and walloped her on the forehead too, leaving a bright red mark. Layla smiled sweetly at her as the girl swore, saying, "Ever sweet, now we match."

When Layla walked into her Chemistry class, her heart dropped into her stomach; the only open seat was the one in the middle of the class next to Edward Cullen, the boy she'd narked on in History. Mr Brouillard signed her paper and directed her to the open seat.

"Ah, sir, may I go to the loo?" Layla asked quickly as he started to walk away. He turned back to her, and, seeing her apparently-earnest expression, nodded and handed her the hall pass. _Not that there's any halls_, she thought grimly, running out into the misting wet of the outdoors. She ran all the way to the sidewalk and sat down, not panting at all, sticking a cigarette in her mouth in one fluid motion. She lit it and took a long drag, feeling the smoke warm her from the inside out. Sighing and blowing out the smoke, she calmed herself by counting to one-hundred in Portuguese, then in Romanian. By the time she'd finished her cigarette, and counting in the Native Ojibwe language, she was much calmer. She ran back to the classroom, somehow managing to get there without any difficulty, and handed the hall pass back to Mr Brouillard.

"What took you so long?" he growled at her suspiciously.

"I got lost, sir," Layla lied, ducking her head in embarrassment that seemed real enough, because he sent her to her seat with a wave of his hand.

Edward Cullen looked at Layla critically as she sat down. "You really shouldn't smoke, you know," he said, his eyes narrowed.

Layla raised her pierced eyebrow at him. "And how would you know if I smoked?"

He gave Layla a look, as though she'd just insulted his intelligence. "For one, you _reek_ of smoke. And for another, I saw you with a pack out before you were even out the door."

Layla blushed and looked away. "Shuddup," she retorted weakly. Then a thought sprang into her mind. "Hold it, the prof didn't see me with the pack out, did he?" she asked Edward urgently; she didn't know what the rules about smoking were at Forks High.

Edward smirked disconcertingly at Layla. "Well..."

She grabbed a fistful of his ivory sweater and tugged him towards her. "Look, I'm sorry for being a right cow, but I really need to know. _Did Mr Brouillard see me with my smokes out_?" She punctuated her words by shaking him.

Edward looked shocked by Layla's behaviour for a moment, then he extracted himself from her grip with a cool look on his face. "I think I was the only one who noticed," he replied frostily. Layla edged her seat away from him and looked down at the table, ignoring the glare he was giving her.

Class moved slowly, it seemed, infinitely slow. Edward looked at her oddly when she unwittingly left her hand in the flame of the Bunsen burner for a minute. Layla hadn't even noticed that her hand was in the path of the burner; she'd been daydreaming about sunny beaches and palm trees and being away from the soggy state of Washington. Layla stammered something unintelligible and went off to the 'bathroom' to have another smoke. Mr Brouillard looked at her like she was mad, but she paid no mind.

She got out of Chemistry as fast as she could when the bell rang, trying to avoid her desk mate and his inquisitive stares. _I can't believe I was so stupid_, Ala thought angrily at herself.

She ran outside with her books all crammed into her tiny backpack, just barely zipped up, and skidded to a stop beside her bike. Popping off a section of the seat to reveal a hidden compartment, Layla pulled out several of the books and put them in so she could close her bag all the way. Grabbing her helmet out of the compartment and snapping the piece back in place, she swung a leg over the seat and started the engine, startling several people. In one fluid movement, she put the full-faced helmet on her head, minding her pierced eyebrow, and twisted the gas, tearing out of the parking lot and leaving only awed teenagers and a black tread mark to show she was there at all.

So? What do you think? Press that review button, you know you want to...


	2. I'm Something Entirely Odd

So. Chapter Two then, eh? I'm putting this up straight away so I don't forget to do it. I'm awful like that. Hope you like it. This sheds a wee bit of light on things.

**DISCLAIMER: **Once again. If I owned Jacob Black, do you really think I'd be writing fanfiction? Why, I think NOT!

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO**

**I'm Something Entirely Odd, But Then Again, So Are You**

The next morning Layla woke up late. The sun, which had been shining, warm and bright, in her dream, was hiding her face behind the endless clouds and raindrops. It was noon before Layla's sister, Inez, forcibly removed her from her warm soft bed and threw her in the shower. Layla tried to take her sweet time (as you might be able to tell, she was quite reluctant to go to school) but Lucy, one of her other sisters, turned off the hot water. This left an extremely pissed off Layla standing in the hall, wearing only a towel and her hair still full of soap suds while Lucy took a shower herself.

It was one o'clock by the time Lucy got out of the shower, but Layla got cheated out of washing her hair by Suzie, another of her sisters.

"If you lot want me to get to school, let me in the bloody loo!" Layla yelled, pounding her fist on the door and stomping her foot.

"Why bother goin' now?" asked Lucy from behind her. Her voice was musical and lovely, accented much like Layla's. She ran a brush through her long blonde hair, smiling at Layla in the mirror. "You'd only be there for a half hour or so. And you won't have to see that Cullen boy you nearly blew our cover in front of." Lucy was frowning now.

Layla bashed her head against the door. "Never mind nearly, try _did_," she muttered, the back of her neck and her cheeks turning red. She wiped furiously at the tears forming in her eyes with a snarl, and punched the bathroom door. It splintered, and when Layla pulled her fist away there was a perfect imprint of it in the wood.

"Hey, hey," protested Lucy, dropping her brush and putting her small arm around Layla's shoulders. "Don't worry about it, yeah? I don't think we're the only ones with a cover story in this town." She wiped Layla's cheeks gently.

"What do you mean?" asked Layla miserably, tears still leaking from her eyes.

"Hey, come on now, love, stop crying," pleaded Lucy, wiping Layla's cheeks more furiously now. "You'll set me off!"

Layla wiped at her eyes, rubbing them and then setting her face resolutely. The expression was somewhat diminished by her tear-stained cheeks and the soap suds on her chin. "What were you saying?"

Lucy smiled. "Well, you remember my boss, Dr Carlisle Cullen...-"

"Cullen?" interrupted Layla sharply.

Lucy's smile became wider. "Yes, Cullen. He's your Edward's adoptive father."

"He's not _my_ Edwa-"

"And Alice and Emmett Cullen and the Hale twins, too," Suzie interrupted, her voice just slightly twanged with a Southern accent, poking her head out the bathroom door.

"Yes, them too," allowed Lucy. "Anyway, Dr Cullen...he's odd. A _very_ good doctor, certainly. He was giving me some charts to file the other day and my hand touched his...cold as ice."

"Vampire?" guessed Inez, leaning her tall frame against the wall.

"That was my thought." Lucy frowned though. "He's away every day that it isn't overcast. That can't be a coincidence. But you remember the Volturi," she continued, and Inez, Suzie and Layla all shuddered. Suzie crossed herself. "Yes, well, they had _red_ eyes. Dr Cullen's are _gold_."

There was a quiet moment in which the four sisters considered this information. Layla twirled her lip ring around with her tongue in thought; she was the one to break the silence. "Diet," she said abruptly, nodding to herself, sending soap suds flying.

"What?" chorused the other sisters.

"The eyes, they're yellow 'cause of his diet," Layla answered hurriedly, her own eyes becoming bright with the excitement of her epiphany. "He doesn't feed from humans!"

There was another moment of silence.

"A, you're a genius," breathed Suzie. Layla grinned triumphantly.

"That must be it," said Inez, her brow furrowing. "Cam's eyes are a different colour than ours are because he feeds from humans."

"Cam's not a vampire, 'Nez," reminded Lucy.

"No, I know that, but he's the same as us," argued Inez. "He gives himself over to the instincts when he changes, and he rips things apart. You remember in Berlin, he changed and killed seven people in an hour because he was so hungry?"

Everyone winced at the memory. It hadn't been a pretty sight.

"That's true," said Layla. "We hang onto our human selves when we change, so we only feed from animals, and our eyes are..."

"Tinted with gold," finished Suzie, smiling in satisfaction.

"Well, that must be it, then," said Lucy. "He feeds from animals, not humans."

"His family would all have to be vampires too, wouldn't they?" wondered Layla.

"I'd think so," said Suzie.

"I think his kids must be vegetarians, too," said Layla, frowning slightly. "I've only met Edward, but his eyes are the same colour as you said the Doc's are."

"Well then."

"Yeah."

* * *

The next day, when the vice principal pulled Layla out of Mr Smith's English class to explain her absence the day before, Layla gathered all the tears she could for her heart-felt excuse. Her dog had been attacked by a wolf, she explained tearfully. She and her sisters had had to drive all the way to Olympia to find a vet who could take care of him. Dr Rothenburg had made Jethro pull through, though, and the big German Sheppard would be alright. Mrs Kettleburn patted her hand soothingly and sent her back to class with only five minutes left. As soon as she was out of the office, Layla let out a snort of laughter and rushed to her class, laughing the whole way. Jethro, her German Sheppard, was perfectly fine, of course, probably sleeping under Layla's blankets back at the house outside of Forks.

Mr Smith frowned as Layla came back. "Nice of you to join us, De Tonye," he sneered. All the kindness of the first day was gone, replaced with contempt and dislike.

Layla's eyes filled with more fake tears. "Sir, I apologize, but I just had to re-live one of the _worst _days of my life for Mrs Kettleburn, to explain my absence yesterday." One of the tears tracked it's way down a smooth, tanned cheek, and it was all Layla could do not to burst out laughing.

Mr Smith pursed his lips. "What took so long?"

"It was a rather long story, sir," said Layla mournfully. "Put simply, my dog was attacked by a wolf, and my family and I had to drive all the way to Olympia to find a vet who could save him." Another tear fell from her eye, and Layla actually had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Only, to the others it appeared that she was biting her lip to fight back more tears.

The bell rang then, and Layla gathered her things with a fake-sad slowness, being one of the last students to trudge out into the rain. Once she was away from the door, she broke into a loping, graceful run to get to History on time. Mrs Hayes glared at her as she skidded through the door right at the bell, but said nothing. Layla flashed her a bright white smile and went to her seat, preparing herself to sleep through another boring lecture.

"Okay, class," said Mrs Hayes from her desk after the bell rang. She stood slowly. "Today we'll be doing an activity. A treasure hunt of sorts." She grinned a gap-toothed smile that made Layla's insides squirm. "With the person sitting next to you, you'll be searching for answers in your textbook. I'll hand out the sheets, get acquainted with your partner!"

Layla stared at the teacher in open-mouthed disbelief, then let out a loud groan and dropped her head onto her desk with a heavy thud.

"Don't be so enthusiastic," said a dry male voice from next to her.

"Mmmph," said Layla eloquently.

Edward Cullen sighed. "Can we just get this done, please?"

Mrs Hayes smacked Layla's desk hard with her fist and Layla skittered backwards, dragging the desk with her until it hit the wall.

"Bloody hell, ma'am, you scared me!" she exclaimed, hand pressed to her chest.

"Don't curse, Alayla, it's not polite," snapped Mrs Hayes, mispronouncing Layla's name like every teacher but Mr Cole had. "I don't want you sleeping in my class anymore, understood?"

"Sure, Mrs Hayes, but could you please call me _Layla_?" She widened her eyes exaggeratedly. She enunciated her name carefully. "_Ay-lay-lah_ is simply horrid, not to mention difficult to pronounce."

Mrs Hayes pursed her lips and walked away without replying.

"Okay, then, don't worry about answerin' me," muttered Layla, grabbing up the page and looking at the questions. "Oh, gods, I don't even 'ave to look in the book to find _these_!" she exclaimed loudly. Mrs Hayes and quite a few other students glared at her. "Oi, what're you lookin' at, Buggy?" she growled at a boy with bulging eyes and glasses, who stared at her in awe.

"My name isn't Buggy, it's Clark!" he protested.

"Look, mate, I wouldn't care if your name was Jesus sodding Christ, alright?" snapped Layla, fixing him with a terrifying glare, her pierced left eyebrow raised menacingly. He turned and shivered.

"That was rude," commented Edward lightly.

"Yeah, well, just 'cause they all think I'm a bloody circus freak..." Layla muttered rebelliously, still glaring at Clark.

"We've each got our own page," said Edward.

"Yeh."

Edward sighed irritably. "Can we just do this, if you're so damn good at History?"

Layla looked at him with a wry little grin. "This from the doctor's prodigal son who's up for three different scholarships," she chuckled.

Edward looked slightly embarrassed. "How'd you know about that?"

Layla grinned widely now, showing off her slightly pointed canines. "My sister Lucy is your father's new secretary," she explained cheerfully. "Dear old Carlisle apparently brags about you a fair bit."

Edward looked embarrassed and pleased at the same time. "So what do you think the first one is?" he said, changing the topic. Layla noticed how pleasant his voice was. It was smooth, deep, very sexy....She mentally beat herself about the head for her thoughts.

"Eh, Jacques Cartier," answered Layla easily, not even looking at her page. She instead examined the boy next to her.

"That's what I was going to say," he said, sounding surprised, but Layla wasn't insulted. She just looked at him with her head cocked to the side, not saying a word.

"What are you looking at?" asked Edward, his eyebrow raised.

"You," answered Layla simply. Her brow furrowed. "I'm tryin' to figure out what you eat."

"Excuse me?"

"What do you eat?" she asked curiously. "You don't seem like the sort for bear, but maybe...puma?"

To her delight, Edward's eyes widened marginally in shock, and his jaw actually dropped a wee bit.

Layla grinned. "Yes, that must be it," she crowed, emerald eyes twinkling. "I myself prefer bobcat, but they're so hard to come by around here. Where do you usually go?"

Edward just stared at her, completely gob-smacked. "I...what?"

Layla shifted her desk so it was right up beside his and moved herself closer to him so she could talk quietly.

"I know what you are."

Edward jerked back and looked at her suspiciously.

Layla's eyes widened. "Don't worry, I'm not Volturi or nothin'," she said hastily, putting her hands up to calm him.

Edward's eyes narrowed. "You're not human either," he said in a whisper.

"No," replied Layla in kind. They were in no danger of being overheard, but they kept on softly. "I'm something entirely odd."

Edward regarded her carefully. "I think we need to have a chat," he said finally, mouth a thin line.

"Yeah, I'd say so," agreed Layla. "Just so's you know, my sisters know, too. We pieced it together yesterday."

"While your dog was getting attacked by a wolf?" snickered Edward, his mood drastically changed. Layla laughed loudly, shattering the tense little bubble around them.

"Oh, hell, I just slept in," she chortled. "Jethro's just fine, he's probably sleeping under my covers right now!"

Edward laughed too. "You named your dog Jethro?"

Layla smiled wistfully. "After my foster father," she explained.

Edward smiled back. "A good, strong name."

Layla laughed again. "Horrible for the dog, of course, 'cause he's the biggest wuss I've ever met." Edward laughed with her and she stuck her pierced tongue out at him.

"How many piercings do you have?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

Layla counted on her fingers. "Uh, fourteen? I think? And I've got five tattoos."

Edward shook his head.

They finished the worksheet without ever cracking their textbooks, chatting about this and that. It was nice, not having any barriers, knowing that they were both the odd ones out in this school full of humans. Layla ducked out of class about halfway through, going to the bathroom for once instead of for a smoke, but she only went in there so she could call Inez and Suzie on her cell phone, out of the rain. They agreed to meet Edward, Layla, and whoever else in Edward's family would go during their lunch hour, over at a diner off the highway. Layla ran back to class and told Edward, who texted his siblings, Alice, Jasper, and Emmett.

"I'm not going to bother with Rose," he said, tucking his phone back into his pocket. "Emmett will tell her."

"So where's this girlfriend of yours I've been hearing so much about?" teased Layla, grinning at her new friend. It was odd, really, but she felt like she'd known him for years. She ignored the faint jealous stab she felt at the mention of Edward's girlfriend.

Edward smiled secretively. "She's got Gym with us," he answered.

Layla's eyes widened. "You're in my Gym class?" she gasped, truly surprised.

Edward chuckled. "I saw you hit Jessica Stanley on Monday."

Layla's face came alive in a bright smile. "That one wallop with a baddy racket made my _whole_ day!" she exclaimed. Edward laughed, but he stopped suddenly and looked angry.

"Uh...Ed?" asked Layla hesitantly. Edward looked at her, still scowling. "You alright there, mate?"

He pursed his lips and scooted his chair closer to hers to speak quietly again. "You know how some of...my kind...have special abilities?"

"Yeah," Layla said with a frown. "That Jane from the Volturi's got a nasty one."

"Yes," said Edward with a shudder. "Well, mine is thought-reading."

Layla gaped. "Wha- I-....Can you hear _my_ thoughts?"

Edward smiled shyly. "I know how you hate when people look closely at you, because you think they're judging you, I know how riding your motorbike and getting piercings makes you feel better, I know that you're thinking of quitting smoking since I told you off on Monday...."

"Bloody hell," Layla breathed.

"Yeah."

There was silence for a few moments.

"So what was it you heard just now that had you in such a strop?" inquired Layla, eyes still wide from Edward's revelation.

Edward raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, come on, Carlisle's from England, innit he?" Layla protested . "A strop, a temper...a foul mood."

"Oh." Edward's face grew dark again. "Jessica Stanley is going to tell Bella that she thinks I'm cheating on her."

"That _cow_ is in this class?" Layla was disgusted.

"Unfortunately."

"That's absurd," said Layla firmly, ignoring the niggling voice in her head that said she was _lying_. "No offence, Eddy," she added quickly. "I mean, you're dead sexy, but you are _so_ not my type." _Lies,_ her subconscious snickered at her.

Edward stared at her for a second before bursting out laughing, so hard that he was clutching his stomach and leaning back in his chair. Layla grinned.

* * *

The bell rang and Layla and Edward left, Edward still chortling. They parted ways, Edward for Spanish and Layla for Art, and she quite happily spent the whole class painting a mural on the wall of the Art room. Mr Cole had decided that, for her semester's big project, she would do a continuous mural all the way around the room, which had been recently renovated and had bare walls, and that dismayed Mr Cole to no end. And the beauty of the project was that it didn't give her time to think.

The bell rang and Layla skipped out of the room quite cheerfully, only to run smack dab into a tall, brawny boy outside the door. He was rock hard, and she fell down and landed on her bottom.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, offering her a large hand up and helping her pick up her paints.

"'S'alright, mate," she replied breezily.

"I'm Emmett, by the way," he offered.

Layla looked up sharply. "Emmett Cullen?"

He raised his eyebrows and smiled. "The very same."

Layla smiled widely too, and shook his hand vigorously. "No wonder it felt like I ran into a brick wall! Bloody marble statues, the lot of you!"

Emmett's eyebrows went higher.

"I'm Layla De Tonye," she added rather belatedly.

Emmett let out a startled laugh. "Oh, yeah, Edward warned me you knew."

"Are you comin' to lunch, then?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering where the hell Ed is. Rose is by the car, she's getting impatient," he explained. They started walking towards the parking lot.

"I'm afraid the only members of your family I've met before today was Mr Model, Eddy-boy," said Layla regretfully.

Emmett laughed again. He seemed the sort who was perpetually cheerful. "That's 'cause at lunch on Monday, you tore off on the beauty of a bike of yours."

Layla grinned. "Yeah, I figured, Jessica Stanley has probably monopolized the senior tables in the caff, and since I narked on Ed in History I thought he'd be stroppy with me."

"I was," said a voice from behind the two. Layla turned in unison with Emmett and saw Edward walking behind them with a grin on his face. Beside him was a small, familiar-looking girl, tiny, with pixie-like features.

"Hey, I know you!" exclaimed Layla, pointing at the girl.

"Layla, it's rude to point," admonished Edward, mispronouncing her nickname.

"Shuddup, Ed. You're the girl who helped me find my English class on Monday!"

The girl grinned widely. "Alice Cullen," she introduced herself, holding out a hand for Layla to shake.

"So, uh, have you lot got enough room in your car for one more, or should I follow you on my bike?" asked Layla as they walked towards the Cullens' silver Volvo. "'Cause quite frankly, I haven't the foggiest idea where this diner is."

"You can squeeze in, if you want," offered Emmett. "It'll be tight – we've got five in there already, but the front can have three seats."

Layla pursed her lips. "If it's alright..." she hesitated. "It's just, I don't fancy drivin' in this rain that's comin' soon, and I didn't think to drive my truck today."

"Yes, it's going to pour," agreed Alice. They stopped beside the car, seeing two blondes leaning against the trunk.

"Rosalie, if you scratch the paint again, so help me God..." Edward mumbled.

"Edward!" The call came from behind them. They all turned to see a small, dark-haired girl come up and hug Edward. The soft smile on his face as he kissed the girl's hair made Layla smile, too; this must be his girlfriend, Bella. No one seemed to notice the bitter edge to Layla's smile.

"Edward, you'll never believe what Jess just told me," she said, laughing slightly.

"Does it have to do with me cheating on you?" he asked wryly, glancing over at Layla. Bella followed his gaze.

"Y-yes..."

"No need to worry about it," Layla said with a comforting smile, berating herself mentally for the thrill of excitement that shot through her at the thought of her and Edward as a couple. "Jessica Stanley has it out for me, for some reason."

"Oh," was all Bella said.

"I'm Alayla De Tonye, by the way, call me Layla," Layla offered. She paused, then grinned and said, "Hey, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!"

Edward groaned and chucked a wad of tinfoil at her. "That didn't even rhyme!"

"Where the hell did that even come from?" demanded Layla, laughing.

"Your full name is Alayla?" snickered Emmett.

Layla turned and glared at him. "I'll tell you what I told my English class; call me Layla unless you wanna get into a punch-up. Fist-fight," she clarified, before he could ask.

Emmett just laughed, but he cut himself off with a loud, "OW!" when Layla punched him hard in the arm. He stared at her with wide eyes.

"There's something wrong with you," he muttered. Layla just laughed at him.

"So, Bella, are you coming with us to lunch?" asked Alice.

"I guess I'm on the bike then?" Layla said resignedly.

"No, no," objected Alice. "We'll fit, you'll see."

"Hey, guys, mind filling us in?" asked the irritated blonde girl who was leaning on the Volvo. She was model-gorgeous, with long, waving blonde hair, an amazing body, and beautiful features typical of a vampire.

"Rosalie, this is Layla, Layla, this is Rosalie," said Edward quickly.

"And I'm Jasper," offered the other blonde, a boy.

Layla's eyes widened as she looked at him. "No bloody _way_..." she breathed.

"What, what is it?" asked Rosalie, interested in this new girl who was able, it seemed, to throw a punch hard enough to hurt Emmett.

"I know you," Layla said, pointing at Jasper. He looked confused.

"You do?"

"Jasper Whitlock," said Layla, almost as though she were dreaming. The vampires and Bella all froze in shock.

"And the weird gets weirder," sighed Edward. "Everyone, get in...Emmett, Layla, Jasper, take the back seat. The girls and I will sit up front."

"We can squeeze someone else back here," offered Layla once they were buckled in. Since she was the slimmest of those in the backseat, she sat in the middle between Emmett and Jasper. Rosalie ended up climbing back and wedging between Layla and Emmett, curling into Emmett's side.

"So..." Jasper said.

"You don't remember me, do you?" said Layla sadly.

Jasper paused. "Should I?" he asked softly.

"I dunno," replied Layla. "It's been a long time, Major."

Jasper suddenly gasped. "You! You – you-"

"Me?" Layla guessed, giving a small impish grin laced with happiness.

"I _remember_ you!" breathed Jasper. His wide smile lit up his face and made everyone in the car happy themselves. "You were the only woman I'd ever seen ride a horse properly!"

Layla laughed. "That's what you remember?" she chuckled. "That I didn't ride like a ponce?"

"And your voice sounds the same," mused Jasper. "I remember, you would come in and sing at the officers' club sometimes."

Layla blushed delicately. "I did," she admitted.

"You were also one of the best sharp-shooters I'd ever seen."

Layla blushed more. "It helps that I can reshape my eyes to those of a hawk, if I want," she whispered, looking down at the hands in her lap.

Jasper's cool finger touched her chin and lifted it so he could see her face. "And you look the same," he finished, smiling softly.

"You remember that now?" asked Layla, delighted.

Jasper's smile widened. "I haven't thought about that in a long time, considering I enlisted when I was 16," he said.

"And your sister and I would come visit you at the camp," sighed Layla.

"Except you weren't called Layla back then," realized Jasper with a frown.

"No," agreed Layla. "I was Lacy."

"That's right," said Jasper, still staring at her.

They were quiet for a moment.

"Holy shit," said Layla. Emmett and Rosalie both laughed.

"I can't believe I found you again, after all these years," she continued, "and pardon my language there, but I just can't believe it."

"Me either," agreed Jasper fervently.

"We're here," said Edward from the driver's seat. Everyone climbed out, Layla muttering about stupid crazy vampire drivers, making Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper laugh.

Alice walked towards the diner beside Layla. "So, you know each other from before he was turned?" she asked.

"Yeah," replied Layla. "I was best friends with his little sister, Suzie." Here she smiled secretively.

The bell above the door jangled as the crowd came into the diner. Over, in the back corner, sat Inez, dark and beautiful, and Lucy and Suzie, blonde and beautiful.

"Everyone," said Layla, "these are my sisters, of sorts, Inez, Lucille, and Suzanna."

"Don't call me Suzanna, _Alayla_," retorted Suzie.

There was a strangled noise from beside Alice and everyone turned to see Jasper staring at Suzie.

And now Suzie was staring right back at Jasper.

Layla couldn't help herself; a giggle forced its way out of her throat. She clamped her hands over her mouth, but still the laughter came.

"Your-your _faces_!" she howled, tears streaming down her cheeks. She giggled helplessly, falling into the seat next to Inez and leaning on her dark-haired, beautiful sister.

Emmett groaned. "Okay, what the hell is it now? Is Suzanna another of your sister's friends or something?" He let out an irritated huff.

Jasper and Suzie were still staring at each other when the annoyed waitress came by.

"Excuse me, but if you aren't going to order, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," she said snootily, in the way that someone older speaks to someone younger.

Layla picked herself up off of her current position on the floor and stared down at the waitress. "Can I get four turkey bacon clubs to go, then?" she said politely, but her stare was rather hostile.

"S-sure," stuttered the now-frightened waitress, and she scurried off.

"That was rude," said Edward disapprovingly.

"I know," was Layla's cheerful reply. "Oh, bloody hell! Bella, I forgot! Oi!" she yelled after the waitress. The scared woman turned at the door to the kitchen. "Make it six!"

"Y-yes, ma'am," said the waitress, and she ran into the kitchen.

Layla just chuckled.

"Oh, Layla, you didn't have to," protested Bella, looking up the six inches that separated their faces.

"Nonsense, Bella, don't worry about it – I just forgot you weren't a Dracula for a moment," said Layla, waving a hand absently. As much as jealousy niggled at her, she couldn't help but like Bella.

"What is going on?" demanded Emmett impatiently.

Layla turned to see Jasper sitting across from Suzie, both of them still staring at each other. "Jazz, d'you want to tell them? Suzie? Or shall I?" She grinned impishly.

Jasper's smile was wide and wondering. "This ain't one of my sister's friends, Emmett," he explained. "It _is_ my sister. It's my baby sister, Suzie."

* * *

Oh snap.

Review s'ils vous plait!


	3. Soul Meets Body

A/N: Yeah, I'm putting this up right away. What can I say though? I'm excited. First big story on here and all that. Chapter three, folks, here we go...

**DISCLAIMER:** Do I really have to repeat it? NOT MINE. Thank ya much.

**CHAPTER THREE**

**Soul Meets Body**

Happy confusion penetrated the next few hours.

Edward, Bella, Emmett and Rosalie were half-way tempted to return to school once the lunch hour was up, but Jasper's happiness was so overwhelming that everyone spent the next three hours with painfully wide grins on their faces. At three o'clock, everyone realised the time and paid their tabs and left the diner.

Once outside, it was decided that everyone would go to the Cullen house on the outskirts of town, to meet Esme and Carlisle. During this long-winded decision time, Layla somehow managed to get back to the school and was squealing into the parking lot of the diner by the time everyone was squeezing into the cars.

"How did you _do_ that?" demanded Emmett, staring at her as she sat astride her red Ducati with a wide grin on her face, barely visible through the opening in her helmet.

She pulled it off and shook out her shaggy black hair, the sweaty strands falling in front her twinkling dark green eyes. "I'm a bit of a freak myself, Emmett."

Emmett rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. "Well, _that's_ obvious," he snickered. Layla scowled playfully and revved her engine at him.

The trip to the Cullen house long, and Layla was a bit irritated by the time they got there. It had begun to pour halfway through the drive, and while her leather jacket was water-proof and her helmet kept the rain off her head, her tight jeans were plastered to her skin and her boots were full of water. Inez and Emmett just laughed at her as she squelched her way up the front steps and into the house behind Edward, who also chuckled. Layla could only glare and shiver violently.

Rosalie, being the closest in size to Layla, gave her some dry clothes while Edward made a fire in the den for Layla, her sisters, and Bella, since the vampires weren't affected by cold.

Carlisle came home from his shift at the hospital and seemed unsurprised to see Bella there, but was delighted to meet the newest weirdos in Forks. Esme had been likewise overjoyed. They both already knew Lucy since she was Carlisle's secretary, and they had a good laugh over the whole situation.

"So," said Emmett after the small talk had died down for a moment.

Layla sighed and glanced at Inez, who nodded. "I suppose you lot want to know what we are, exactly?" she guessed. All the Cullens nodded.

"We're...something like you, I suppose," explained Layla, struggling to do so. "We can eat human food without it tasting like crap, pardon my language, but it doesn't sustain us as well as, well, raw, freshly hunted game does."

Bella looked faintly repulsed.

"I have to admit, I _do_ prefer things cooked," offered Lucy, seeing Bella's expression and smiling slightly. "It's just, we eat a lot more cooked food than a normal person would."

"That's why the grocery bill is $200 every two days," joked Inez, making the other three sisters laugh.

"But what caused you to be the way you are?" asked Carlisle, looking curious.

"Well, you see, that's not the extent of it," admitted Suzie, avoiding Jasper's gaze. "We're something like...werewolves, I suppose the best comparison would be."

"Werewolves?" Emmett exclaimed loudly in distaste.

"It's the closest comparison we've got, Emmett," said Layla sourly, biting her lip. "We change form, but it can be anything."

"Anything?" repeated Jasper, his alabaster brow furrowing.

"Yes," said Suzie. "Any animal in the whole world. Hybrids, no problem."

"We've experimented with being hybrids ourselves," chuckled Lucy.

"Yeah, the whale and the tree frog together didn't work out so great," said Layla mockingly, looking side-long at Inez with her pierced eyebrow raised and a smirk on her lips.

"You know I just did that for a _joke_, you loser," snapped Inez, turning red.

Carlisle looked amazed by this revelation. "Would you mind demonstrating?"

"Well, I wouldn't," allowed Layla. "Just...within reason, of course. If you want me to be a fish, give me a tank to swim in first, that kind of thing."

"That's alright, we can try aquatic animals another time," Carlisle assured her.

"Gimme one to try!" called Layla from the centre of the room. She'd gotten up and moved so quickly that it had surprised even the vampires.

"Lion!"

"Snake!"

"Horse!"

"Grizzly bear!" That was Emmett's contribution.

Layla fixed the brawny vampire with a stern look. "You are _not_ allowed to try and take me down, understood? 'Cause you'll be on the floor before you can blink."

Emmett just chuckled and flapped his hand.

First was Alice's lion. Layla shook, then abruptly, where she'd stood, was a magnificent savanna lion standing in a pile of clothes. Then it was a huge boa constrictor a moment later, causing Bella to shriek at Jasper's request. Rose's horse was jet black with a brown mane and tail, and a white star on the forehead. And then was Emmett's grizzly bear.

Ala was huge as a grizzly. The floorboards creaked and groaned under her weight and she quickly phased to a big dog, picking her clothes up with her mouth and running into another room. She came back looking rather embarassed.

"Aww," complained Emmett.

"Sorry I didn't put a hole in your floor," Layla replied sarcastically. Jasper chuckled.

There were a few more demonstrations before Ala decided she'd had enough.

"'Kay, folks, sorry, but I've gotta go," she said apologetically, her eyes dark.

"Go?" said Lucy, confused.

"Yeah, I've gotta go," repeated Layla. "I won't be back 'til late tonight, but don't worry. Call me on my mobile if you need me."

"Mobile?" asked Rosalie, eyebrows raised.

"Cell phone," clarified Inez

"Where are you going?" Suzie called after her as she was about to step through the door.

Layla turned and grinned ferally. "I'm goin' to hunt."

* * *

Layla's body shook, and instantly there was a large black wolf standing in a pile of human girl's clothes and shoes. She shook and loped away from her clothes, sniffing around. She'd decided to go hunting near La Push, because the deer were getting to be almost too much around there. She could afford to have a nice snack.

She got the lay of the land quickly, and caught the scent of a large herd of deer almost immediately. She let out a loud, exhilarated howl and took off, stalking the herd until she had the opportunity to pick off several bucks. She tore into them eagerly, ignoring the gore that spattered her fur and covered her muzzle. Once she was full, she let out another howl of victory.

The answering howl scared her so much she nearly phased back to her human form.

A huge russet shape emerged from a thicket in front of her, and her hackles rose. The fur on her back fluffed out and so did her tail as she took a defensive stance.

The animal came closer and sniffed. It was a giant, magnificent, gorgeous russet wolf. Layla growled deep in her chest, but her mind was racing. Wolves just didn't get that _big_.

The other wolf was suddenly in front of her, sniffing, and then it let out a deep, angry growl. Layla's growl cut off and she whimpered, slinking backwards. The wolf didn't move, but the growl got louder and harsher. She moved back farther, and quickly spun, running as fast as she could away. She heard the furious howl and the crashing of undergrowth as the giant raced after her. She focused only on running, though. Running, runnning...running for her life.

Then, abruptly, she was on the ground, the giant russet wolf on top of her, snapping its jaws in her face. Layla lost the battle to hold her shape and was instantly in her human form again, naked as the day she'd been born. Tears came to her eyes and she squeezed them shut, waiting for death to come, and praying out loud that it would be quick.

But then the weight pinning her was gone, or most of it, and there was a naked human boy pinning her instead of a wolf.

"What the _hell_?" came his deep, husky, bewildered voice, and Layla's eyes snapped open.

She screamed loudly at the sight of the short, shaggy black hair, the smooth brown skin, the black eyes, the handsome face. And _especially_ the hard thing pressing against her belly. A large, rough hand clamped over her mouth to silence her and she thrashed. Her fist came up and hit the boy hard in the eye, and he tumbled backwards, clutching it in surprise and pain.

Layla scrambled backwards and stood, then shifted to a cheetah and ran as fast as she could, as fast as this body would allow, away, away anywhere. She was so lost, and she'd never been more terrified in her life.

Then she was on the ground again, back where she'd first shifted, her clothes under her head, back in her human form again, and the boy was on top of her.

"HELP!" she screamed. The boy shushed her furiously, his dark eyes wide. "HELP!"

"Would you _shut up_?" he growled. "I'm not going to hurt you!"

"Then why are you pinnin' me down?" demanded Layla, a hysterical note coming into her voice. "LET ME _GO_! HELP!"

The boy was off her in an instant, and there were a pair of track pants covering his lower body, somehow. Layla grabbed her clothes from behind her and stood quickly, running behind a tree and peering around it with terrified eyes.

"You smelled all wrong, _that's_ why I came after you!" the boy tried to explain. His eyes were wide and honest-looking. "I _swear_!"

"Who-who are you?" asked Layla in a trembling voice as she put her underthings back on. "_What_ are you?"

"My name is Jacob, Jacob Black," he replied quickly. "I live down in La Push!"

"_What_ are you?" Layla shrieked. She came out from behind the tree, wearing only her jeans (having been put in the dryer at the Cullens' house) and her lacy black bra. Jacob Black's eyes were focused not on her bra, or her toned stomach, though; he was staring at what was in her hands.

A gun.

"Calm down, okay?" he said urgently, his eyes showing white all the way around, they were so wide. "I'm a werewolf, a Quileute werewolf, okay? I'm not going to hurt you! Just put the gun down!"

"Werewolf?" whispered Layla, her eyes just as wide as his. The gun trembled in her grip.

"Yes," said Jacob urgently. "Just put the gun down, okay? I'm sorry I freaked you out, I swear, I just didn't know what you were!"

The gun fell with a thud to the ground, and Layla fell soon after it, hugging herself protectively.

Jacob Black moved forward slowly, trying not to scare Layla, who was now rocking back and forth and in the full throes of a panic attack, and sat next to her. He touched her arm gently and she turned to look at him with wild eyes.

"What's your name?" he asked softly.

Layla stared at him.

"Can you tell me your name?" Jacob tried again.

"It-it's Layla."

Layla's voice shook. Her tear-filled eyes, now a warm green-gold, the colour of sunlight filtering through trees, gazed into his black ones. This time, she was not afraid.

"Layla, it's alright," soothed Jacob, moving slowly. He put his arm around Layla's shoulders gently, and she didn't flinch away like he expected. Instead, she collapsed against him, crying, gasping through her tears. Jacob drew her further into his arms and she burrowed her face against his hot chest, her tears running down his skin. It was the strangest thing either had ever experienced. First Layla was running from Jacob, then she got pinned down by him, she got away and ran again, got pinned _again_, pointed a gun at him, and now she was crying in his arms.

Layla's shuddering sobs eventually calmed until she just leaned, still half-naked, against Jacob's own half-naked form. His big, rough hands rubbed soothing circles on her back, while his mind marvelled at how soft her skin was, and how her eyes had looked while she levelled the gun at his head. The terror in them that made him do what he was doing now.

Bella flitted across his mind for a moment, but then his thoughts returned, almost immediately, to the girl in his arms.

Edward's face flashed through Layla's brain for the barest instant before being replaced by contentment that erased him from her thoughts. She felt fleetingly guilty at forgetting him when she'd thought she felt so strongly for him.

Layla breathed in Jacob's scent. It reminded her of...well, of home. There was something about it that made her feel safe, warm (despite the fact that she wasn't wearing a shirt) and amazingly alive.

Then she totally ruined the moment by letting out a snort of laughter.

"What?" Jacob asked her, bemused.

"This is just so ridiculous!" Layla replied through her giggles. She fell across Jacob's lap and lay across it, giggling madly, clutching her stomach.

Jacob looked worried for her mental health.

Layla caught sight of his expression and tried to stifle her laughter. "I'm not mad," she protested weakly, still giggling.

"Mad?"

"Wacky," Layla clarified, and started laughing again. She rolled off his lap onto the dusty ground, still laughing, and soon Jacob couldn't help but join in. Her laughter was just so infectious.

"What are we laughing about?" asked Jacob through his chortles.

"How ridiculous this situation is," Layla repeated, still giggling.

Eventually there was calm, and the two of them lay on the ground, staring up at the trees. Layla's head lay on Jacob's hard, muscular stomach and Jacob's arm was curled under her body, his big rough hand rested on her stomach.

"So, what's ridiculous about this?" asked Jacob lazily, his thumb rubbing circles beside Layla's pierced bellybutton.

Layla made a sleepy noise, yawned, and opened her eyes. "The fact that I was so bloody scared of you, the fact that I practically went stark raving _mad_ and waved a gun at you, the fact that I was cryin' all over you-"

"I get it," interrupted Jacob. He let out another snort of laughter, which set them both off again.

* * *

An hour later, Layla and Jacob were sitting on his front porch in La Push, drinking cans of soda. Billy had greeted Jacob casually, but his eyes widened when he saw his son's companion, the five-foot-ten-inches of slim, muscled body that was Layla. The two of them almost looked related, with their jet black hair and skin that was nearly the same warm brown tone. Of course, Layla's face was heart-shaped and more Latin in her features, while Jacob's was distinctively Native. And Jacob didn't have any piercings to speak of, while Layla had two visible piercings on her face and eleven piercings in her ears alone.

"Layla, I've got a question for you," said Jacob, leaning lazily against the wall with his impossibly long legs stretched out before him.

"Shoot, Jake."

"What are _you_?"

Layla grinned wryly. "I expected you would ask that. I'm something entirely odd."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and she says this to the werewolf."

Layla laughed, but then sobered quickly. She sighed. "To explain this right, I've gotta give you some of my history," she warned him.

Jacob snorted. "Layla, you're what, seventeen? Eighteen? It's not going to be a long history."

But Layla smirked. "Yes, but how long do you think I've been seventeen?" she asked him rhetorically.

"Uh, seventeen years?"

"Nope. Try since about 300 A.D., sweetheart."

Jacob stared at her, jaw agape.

"Yeah, I know." Layla sighed and took a sip of soda and then cringed. "Ugh, I need something stronger to tell this story."

"Three-three hundred _A.D._?" stammered Jacob.

Layla sighed again and stood up, stretching her lithe frame. "I need a beer," she whined, rubbing her eyes. Jacob scrambled to his feet.

"Come on, you, we're goin' out," ordered Layla, pulling him to where their bikes stood.

"Out?"

"Yeah. We're goin' to Port Angeles."

Jacob looked down at her. "Layla, it's ten o'clock."

"I _know_ that," said Layla impatiently, rolling her eyes. "But unless there's some bar in Forks that I haven't heard of, Port Angeles is closest."

"You want to go to a _bar_?" Jacob was flabbergasted. "If you want beer, why don't you just go _buy_ a pack?"

"'Cause I've already gotten busted at the beer store here," admitted Layla glumly, fiddling with her eyebrow ring. "That's what sucks about being seventeen forever. You always look the _same_."

Jacob sighed. "I can get some for you, then," he said grudgingly.

"Jacob, you're _physically_ the same age as me."

"I look older than you, _way_ older."

"Shut it, wolfie, it's _so_ not my fault that I'm like this."

"Sure, sure."

Layla shoved him at his bike. "Come on, then, let's go. I'll give you the money for the beer, you can have some if you like, and then we'll sit on the beach and drink and I'll tell you my story."

Jacob thought about it. "We both have school tomorrow," he pointed out.

"Maybe it'll be my cat that got attacked by a wolf this time," said Layla thoughtfully, scratching her nose.

"_This_ time?"

* * *

reviewreviewreview *grins* I'm not going to hold a chapter hostage or anything, cause I'm just starting to post this...but please review? I'll love you forever!


	4. History, 1O1

A/N: Wow. Gotta say, I'm excited by the reception this story is getting. I honestly hadn't expected so many readers in the first day. You know what would make me even more excited though? Reviews... hint hint. Haha, I'm just kidding, but I really would love to get some feedback. What is it that you like about Shift? Anything you don't like? What do you think of the De Tonye sisters?

This chapter should be quite...informative. Notice the title? Hehe. Pony up, people, and enjoy!

* * *

_**CHAPTER FOUR**_

_**History, 1O1.**_

By eleven, Layla and Jacob were back in La Push, lying on a blanket together on the beach and drinking the beer Jacob had bought. It had been insanely easy for him; the clerk hadn't even asked for ID. Layla was cuddled against Jacob's warm body since it was rather chilly out. He could feel the cold metal of her eyebrow ring against the hot skin of his chest; the contrast made him hyper-aware of the close contact.

"So, I guess I kinda freaked you out earlier with the age question, huh?" said Layla with a chuckle.

Jacob grinned ruefully back. "Yeah. I mean, that's like..."

"Over a millennia old," Layla finished quietly.

"Tell me the story, please," requested Jacob, squeezing her gently.

Layla took a deep breath and let it out shakily. "I was seventeen years old and married with three children when the plague came through our village."

"You've had kids?" Jacob's eyes were wide.

Layla smiled sadly. "Yeah. Two boys and a little girl. Greyer, Granthey and my little Bronwen." Layla bit her lip and wiped her eyes. She took a swig of her beer and continued. "My husband...he wasn't a very good person. He beat me because I wouldn't let him discipline the children the way_ he_ wanted to."

Jacob's arm tightened convulsively around her.

"He was the first to die." Layla's voice was barely a whisper. She had her eyes closed. Jacob could feel her shaking slightly in his grip. "The priest went around, blessing everyone with good health." She snorted. "The old fool. He died next, and then all the elders, and the children-" Her voice broke.

Jacob's arms felt like they protected her from the horrors of her past. They sheltered her from the angry voice of her husband and the terrified cries of her children, echoing across the ages as they did every time she told her story.

She sucked in another deep breath. "I was the _only_ one who survived," she continued bravely, though still in a whisper. "Somehow, the virus mutated my blood, _moulded_ it, so that I was infinitely powerful. At first, I didn't know anything was different. But after five years or so, you start to notice you don't age. And the animal thing, well, that frightened me something awful. I woke up one day and saw that I had paws instead of hands and feet."

Jacob chuckled. "I know what that's like." His deep voice rumbled through his chest like a purr.

Layla smiled slightly, her tense mood gone. "I wandered alone for a long time, and then I found Inez in Spain. This was around...oh, 1400? The same thing had happened to her. Well, I mean, I found that out once she learned a bit of English."

Jacob laughed.

"We were pirates for a while," Layla chuckled. "You'd be amazed at the stuff we did. You know those Disney movies, Pirates of the Caribbean?" Jake nodded. "Jack Sparrow really existed." She let out a loud laugh and drained her can of beer. "Good bloke to have around, Jack was. Great drinking partner. We got into loads of trouble together." Her grin widened. "Around 1855, I think it was, we met Suzie." Layla smiled, a smile that was faraway, remembering some happy event. "We'd settled down in Houston, Texas, Inez and I. A little ranch. We posed as orphaned sisters." Layla grinned. "We were, really. Inez and I had been together for four hundred years or so at that point. We fought just like _real_ sisters." She laughed.

"So Suzie and Inez and I became close, close friends. Suzie and I were the same age, thereabouts. Physically, at least. Inez and I were the freakishly tall strangers in the area, but Suzie welcomed us without a moment's hesitation. We became friends with her brother, Jasper, too – I believe you know him?"

Jacob stared down at her impish smile. "So your Suzie's brother is the blond leach?"

"Hey," growled Layla, smacking his bare chest, her emerald eyes flashing angrily. "Jasper is one of the _best_ people I've ever met in my life, okay? So I'd appreciate it if you kept your slurs to yourself."

Jacob sighed. "Fine," he grumbled. Bella had asked him much the same thing before, but he hadn't listened. What was making him listen to this strange, impossibly old girl that he'd only met today?

"Yes, Jasper is a vampire," continued Layla. "I was going by Lacy in those days-"

"Lacy?" interrupted Jacob, raising an eyebrow. "How does that relate to Layla?"

Layla blushed. "My full given name, from what I remember, is Alayla, and Lacy is close..ish," she muttered. Jacob let out a snort.

"Shuddup!"

"Sorry," chuckled Jacob.

"May I continue?" demanded Layla peevishly, pursing her lips. "Or would you like to interrupt me some more?"

"Keep going," urged Jacob, smothering his laughter.

"So, I was Lacy. Inez went by Lucia. We spent basically all our time with Suzie and Jasper. Jasper thought I was the oddest woman in the world, because I didn't ride side-saddle." She stopped, laughing. "Jasper enlisted when he was nearly seventeen, and I didn't see him much after that. I had a bit of a crush on him, back then, so I would go and sing at the officers' club, trying to impress him.

"When news of Jasper's disappearance came, his mother died of shock. She couldn't handle it. And his father, losing his only son and his wife all in one go, couldn't handle any of it. He blew his head off with a shotgun." Layla shuddered. "I remember going home with Suzie after a day in town, and her dad's brains were splattered all over the parlour." Jacob shuddered now, too.

"So Suzie was left alone. She came to stay with us, at our little ranch, and it didn't take her long at all to figure out we were strange. She moved into a hostel in Houston, so when the epidemic hit, she was right in the middle of it. And she has that genetic quirk that allowed the virus to mutate, to mould her blood. So she joined our merry little band."

She sighed then, and drained her can of beer. "We've found Lucy most recently. She was in a concentration camp during World War two. Auschwitz...the worst of them. It was right at the end of the war, and she was put into the gas chamber to die, because she was too weak to work. I found her." Layla's voice choked. "She-she looked so small, so frail...like a little broken doll...and the gas had reacted with her blood. She didn't die. I've had nightmares ever since I pulled her out of that chamber."

Jacob's arm tightened around her, and she oriented herself so that she lay half-on him, her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"You know," she said quietly in a thoughtful voice a while later, breaking the silence, "you're the only person I've _ever_ told the whole story to, in my whole millennia-plus existence, and I only met you today."

Jacob smiled. "I think I might have a theory," he replied smugly.

"Care to share?"

Jacob just smiled mysteriously and said, "Not yet."

Layla huffed. "Fine then."

There was silence for a moment and neither moved. "Wanna know something else?" asked Layla. Jacob nodded and kissed the top of her head. "I haven't ever felt this comfortable with a person before," said Layla, her chagrin from moments ago forgotten.

"Me neither."

Layla yawned widely at the same time as her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She jumped, swore, and elbowed Jacob in the stomach, then apologized furiously as she shimmied her phone out of her tight jeans pocket.

"Hullo?" Layla listened for a moment. "Nah, I'm not _dead_, Luce, I'm down at La Push. No, I _know_ it's two a.m., dolt, but I'm so knackered I can't drive. Yes, I had something to drink. A few beers. Lucy..._no_, it's okay. You don't have to come get me. Lucille Hirsch, _don't_ you drive out here in that monster of yours, you'll scare away all the game for _miles_. I can't _believe_ Adam let you take that killer. _No_, you're _not_ coming and getting me! I'll drive home in the morning! No, shut _up_, listen to me. I'm _fine_ out here. _Lucy_. Stop. I'm _FINE_. Stop freaking out. I'll see you later. I'll call you before I leave in the morning. Yes, yes. Love you, too. Don't let Inez do anything stupid. Love you, Lucy. I've gotta go. Bye. _BYE_."

She hung up.

"So, you're staying out here tonight?" guessed Jacob with a grin.

Layla blushed. "I hope you don't mind if I steal your couch..."

"Oh, hell, my bed's big enough for both of us. I had to get a new one just a little while ago 'cause my old one wasn't long enough."

Layla laughed. "Alright, then," she agreed, and snuggled further into his arms.

They just laid there, watching the stars, for a long while before something broke the silence.

"Well, well, well," said an amused male voice.

Jacob sat up abruptly and Layla fell off him onto the sand. She grimaced and spat out a mouthful of dirt and sat up too, trying to wipe the grit from her tongue. She took a swig of Jacob's beer to try and rinse the sand out of her mouth and her tongue ring.

"Quil, what do you want?" asked Jacob irritably.

The speaker moved closer to them and Layla saw his face in the moonlight, handsome, though not as handsome as Jacob's, she thought. He was much shorter and bulkier, too.

"Billy asked me to come find you when you didn't come home. He said you and some chick tore off on your bikes at ten." Quil's face was amused. "This her?"

"Yeah," spat Jacob.

"Sam knows you broke the rules, you know." Quil's voice was serious.

"Yeah, well, I was pointing a gun at his head, so I can see why he didn't obey an order," said Layla, her voice acidic. Quil stared at her in surprise.

"She had a gun pointed at your head?" he yelped, turning with wide eyes to stare at Jacob.

"Yeah, it's part of her charm," replied Jacob sarcastically, standing up and pulling Layla with him. She leaned against him unsteadily, blinking, and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Where's the gun now?" asked Quil suspiciously.

"Under the seat of my bike," replied Layla through a wide yawn.

"Quil, if you're done, I think all of us should get to bed," suggested Jacob rather coolly. Quil backed off and nodded, walking away up the beach.

"Sorry about that," muttered Jacob as he and Layla made their way slowly along the sand. Layla leaned heavily on him, the beer in her system taking a bit of effect and making her unsteady.

"Don't even _worry_ about it, love," Layla muttered back. "I unnerstan'."

"Unnerstan'?" Jacob snorted.

"Shuddup."

Jacob laughed and led her along the dirt road to his house and up the steps. The light on the front porch was on, but all the lights inside were off, showing that Billy had gone to bed.

They went as quietly as they could to Jacob's room, but Billy still heard them and called for Jacob. "Go on in," Jacob whispered, pushing Layla forward gently. "I'll be there in a second."

So Layla went alone into Jacob's room. It wasn't big, by any stretch of the imagination, and the super-long double bed took up most of it. There was a tiny dresser in one corner, covered in random things one tends to accumulate in one's pockets, and a closet that was more like a cubby hole beside the door. Layla went and sat on the bed, looking around, but eventually she got tired of waiting for Jacob to come back and lay back on the bed, curling up in a ball on top of the covers.

It seemed like only moments later when she felt the bed dip beside her and she stirred, blinking.

"Sorry I woke you up," Jacob whispered apologetically.

"Sorry I'm taking up all your bed," replied Layla in a whisper.

"Do you want a t-shirt or something to sleep in?" Jacob asked, biting his lip.

"Su-sure," answered Layla through a yawn. "Even though you've already pinned me to the ground while we were both completely nude."

Jacob chuckled, standing carefully and easing an over-sized white t-shirt out of his tiny dresser. He handed it to her and cleared his throat, eyes averted.

"Oh, fuck it." That was all Layla said before she yanked her hoodie over her head and unbuttoned her jeans, pushing them down her legs.

"Uh...." Jacob looked uncomfortable.

"Jake, you've pinned me to the ground when we were both naked. What does it _matter_?" Layla scoffed and pulled the t-shirt on. "I'm wearing _way_ more than I was then."

"That was different," muttered Jacob, blushing furiously, but pulling his track pants down his legs and kicking them off until he stood in just his boxers. "Come on, let's get some sleep."

Layla yawned in agreement and wormed her way under the covers, curling up into a ball. Jacob climbed in next to her and lay rigid beside her, his lower lip bit firmly between his teeth.

It was quiet for a while.

Layla was nearly asleep when Jacob said softly, "You know, most of these covers will be gone soon."

"You're a human furnace yourself, Jake," muttered Layla sleepily, turning onto her other side to face him. She smiled lazily at him. "I'll be just fine."

She closed her eyes again, a small smile still on her lips. Jacob found himself marvelling at how innocent she looked in this state. Her lashes, long and thick and dark, lay on the slightly darkened circles under her eyes. Her lips were full and pink, and turned up in a smile just for him. Her dark hair was a wild halo around her face. She was beautiful.

So Jacob gave up his internal struggle and pulled Layla into his arms. She wrapped her own arms around his waist and lay her head on his chest with a happy sigh, never opening her eyes.

* * *

Dawn broke, and sunlight crept its way into Jacob's room. It hit the end of the bed, warming Jacob's feet, and then up to Layla's toes. They wiggled in response, but she didn't move. It moved up even further, to where Layla's leg was slung over Jacob's hips, and her body lay almost completely on top of him. When it reached Layla's face, nestled in the crook of Jacob's neck, she stirred slightly. Jacob's arms tightened around her. The sun, not deterred in the slightest by Layla's lack of response, went up to his face and warmed his eyelids. He let out a sigh and opened his eyes blearily, blinking several times to clear his vision. He was confused for a moment. What was laying on top of him? What was he hugging to his chest? And then he remembered; Layla had stayed the night with him because she was too tired and tipsy to drive home. And here she was, her long leg slung over his hips, her face buried in his neck, her soft breathing tickling his skin.

She moaned softly and let out a sigh, her arms and leg tightening around him. His eyes flew wide open and he looked down at her. Beauty incarnate, there in his bed, in a _very_ compromising position...

Layla slept on, oblivious to the conflict in Jacob's mind. She moved slightly, turning her head to face Jacob's. Unable to resist, he bent his head and placed a soft kiss at the corner of Layla's mouth. Her lips twitched upwards in a smile, but she stayed asleep. He pressed his luck once more by planting another butterfly kiss on her lips. He gazed at her a long while, one word echoing in his mind; _imprinting_.

* * *

Dun dun dunnnnnnn....yeah, you had to have know that I'd pull the imprinting card _sometime_. So, what do you think? How did everyone like Layla's story? I couldn't help myself, I had to throw that bit about Jack Sparrow in there...simply because Johnny Depp is the man. Pity he's old and married with kids, eh? Ah well, there's always plenty of younger stock to ogle at, like Taylor Lautner, Jackson Rathbone, Jamie Bell...you catch my drift. Adios, amigos! Until next time!


	5. Honey Honey

A/N: hello all! chapter five, here we go! bit of a filler, this one, but what can ya do... there's some conflict that'll come up in here, can ya spot it? enjoy!**

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**CHAPTER FIVE**

**Honey Honey**

Layla was embarrassed when she woke up, because of the position she was in, but got over it quickly. She dressed in yesterday's clothes and ate breakfast with Jacob and Billy, then, with a promise to return that night, tore off into the dawning sun.

It was seven-thirty when she reached her house, on the outskirts of Forks. Lucy fussed over her until she begged off to go shower.

And in the shower, she thought.

Thought about Forks, and La Push, and the Cullens, and Jacob. Forks didn't seem so bad now that she was on friendly terms with the Cullens. La Push was a haven in itself, and the more she considered this, the more she thought it had to do with Jacob Black.

She couldn't believe how strongly she felt for this boy, having only known him for less than a day. It was like she had spent her whole life waiting for this kid to be born...

She shook her head, sending water droplets flying, and turned off the water. That was such a ridiculous thought. "Get a grip, Layla," she told herself sternly. She wrapped a fluffy towel around herself and gathered up her dirty clothes to throw in the wash. She opened the door – and promptly let out a loud shriek and slammed it closed again.

"Sorry!" called Edward hastily through the door. "Sorry, Layla, I didn't mean to!"

Layla took a deep, calming breath. "It's okay, Ed," she called back after a moment. "Just, could you go into the den or something so I can finish getting ready?"

"Of course."

When Layla cracked the door open again, Edward was gone and the hallway was empty. She let out a sigh of relief and walked quickly to her room down the corridor, bumping the already-ajar door open with her hip. She nudged it closed with her foot and tossed her clothes onto the floor, turning around.

"HOLY SHIT!" she screeched, clutching her towel to her chest. The towel which, though big for someone with a stature like 5'4" Lucy, was a wee bit small on Layla.

Jacob Black sat in her armchair by the window.

"Calm down, Layla, jeez," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Can you people not get enough of me in my towel or what?" she ranted, hiding behind her dressing screen.

"What?"

"First bloody Edward, now you-"

"Wait a second," snarled Jacob. Layla poked her head around the edge of the screen. "That leach that stole Bella is here?" He moved towards the door.

"Jacob Black, do not move another step," ordered Layla, coming out from behind the screen wearing a pair of tight black pants and a white tank top. She walked over to him and grabbed his elbow. "Bear in mind that this is _my_ house, and I can have whom_ever_ I like over."

Jacob's lip pulled back over his teeth in a soundless snarl, but he didn't try to move.

"And he didn't steal Bella," she continued firmly, grabbing his chin with her other hand and forcing him to look at her. "Bella loves him. She went willingly."

"She would be with me if he hadn't taken her!" roared Jacob, his dark eyes blazing, ripping his face away from her grip.

"You stop this right now, Jacob, or you'll get out of my house, do you hear me?" Layla yelled right back, punching him hard in the chest. He grunted and tried to rip his arm out of Layla's grasp, but she didn't budge. "I said, _do you hear me_?"

"YES!" bellowed Jacob. "Yes, I fucking _hear_ you, okay?"

Layla loosened her grip on his arm with an affronted look. "No need to curse," she admonished mildly. Jacob's body shook wildly. "Oi! Don't phase and wreck my room, I haven't got a job to pay to fix it!"

Jacob shook his head back and forth in concentration and after a few moments he stopped shaking, but his eyes still blazed when he glared at Layla.

"Don't be glarin' at me, mate, it's my damn house!" objected Layla, a hurt expression crossing her face. Jacob softened.

"I'm sorry, Layla," he said softly, averting his eyes to the floor. Layla's hand fell away from his elbow and she backed up to sit on her bed, her head in her hands. She didn't say anything, but Jacob noticed after a moment that her shoulders were shaking. He felt a wave of guilt wash over him and he reached over to touch her arm, but she flinched back and shook her head, her hands falling into her lap. Jacob frowned unhappily.

"I'll just be going, then," he said dejectedly, turning to the window and heaving it open, allowing the warm breeze, unseasonably warm for October, to flow in.

"No!" said Layla quickly, standing.

"Layla, what the hell are you doing in there?" came Inez's impatient voice from the other side of the door.

"Bugger off, I'm busy!" snapped Layla, glaring at the door before turning back to Jacob with pleading eyes. "Please don't leave, Jacob," she whispered.

"Layla, I'm opening this door!" called Inez. The crystal knob started to turn.

Layla was over there in a flash, heaving it open just enough to poke her head out and snarl at Inez, "What part of 'bugger off' did you not get, Inez?"

"Cam's on the phone, he wants to talk to you," said Inez, her dark eyes flashing with hurt. "Pardon me for wanting you to be able to talk to your brother."

"He's no brother of mine anymore and he knows it well," snapped Layla, but it was half-hearted. "I'll talk to him, but just leave me alone for a while, alright? I'm sorry I snapped at you," she continued softly, apologetically. "I think I'm hungry again."

"Weren't you just hunting yesterday?" asked Inez, raising her eyebrow.

"Yes, but you know how little deer helps," replied Layla, shrugging.

"Don't forget about Cam," said Inez, before turning and walking away down the hall. Layla sighed and closed the door slowly before turning back to Jacob.

"I have to talk to my...my brother," she said quietly. She walked towards him until she stood only a foot away and looked up at him, meeting his gaze. "But please, don't leave."

"I won't," promised Jacob, pulling Layla into a hug. She sighed and wrapped her arms around him tightly, burrowing her face into the crook of his neck.

"You need to talk to your brother," reminded Jacob gently a few moments later. Layla sighed again and pulled away slightly.

"I hate talking to him," she whispered, her long fingers playing with the buttons on his shirt. "He always makes me feel like I'm making all the wrong decisions in life."

"You may make some wrong decisions, Layla," said Jacob, putting his hand under her chin and lifting it to look her in the eyes, "but your good decisions far outweigh the bad. And even though you're immortal," -here his lips quirked into a wry little grin - "you're still human."

Layla smiled at him and stretched up to kiss his cheek. "You know what?"

"I'm sure you're gonna tell me," said Jacob with a cheeky grin.

Layla laughed and tweaked his nose playfully. "You're the only person I've ever met who can make me act so...so..."

"Bi-polar?" suggested Jacob cheekily. Layla laughed and nodded, moving out of the circle of his arms and over to her bed to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" she said.

"Took you long enough to pick up, sis," said a grouchy male voice.

"It's lovely to hear from you too, Cam," she sighed sarcastically.

"How are you doing there in that little itty bitty town?" he asked malevolently. Layla could clearly hear the sneer in his voice.

"I love it here, actually," she replied, being purposely over-cheerful. "It's a simply adorable little itty bitty town."

"And how do the people taste?" he asked rudely, trying to provoke her.

"Well, now, I wouldn't know, since I'm not a _cold-hearted murderer_, am I?" she snarled back, all traces of her good mood gone.

"Rumour has it you haven't been so..._pious_, as of late," he whispered maliciously.

"Cam, Cam, Cam, when will you _learn?_" asked Layla bitterly. "Everyone you associate with is so full of shit that leaks out into their eyes; that's why they're all ugly, rust-brown. The ugliness of your lives spills over, and I don't want it spilling over into mine, so I'll thank you to not contact us anymore."

"It's because I killed that boy, isn't it." Cam's voice was harsh, probing, angry.

"He was six years old," said Layla in a hard voice. "Six years old, and you ripped him to bloody pieces. They couldn't even recognise him, Cam, they had to do blood tests! He was _six years old_!"

"And he tasted delicious."

"You are going straight to hell," snarled Layla viciously.

Cam laughed just as viciously. "I can't die!"

"I'll see to it that you die, if I have to do it _myself!_" roared Layla into the phone, before slamming it down onto the cradle. She jumped to her feet and pounded her fist into the wall with a screech of rage. Jacob bounded over to her in two steps and pulled her into his embrace again, trapping her in the cage of his arms and refusing to let go, no matter how much she struggled.

Eventually Layla stopped punching his chest and just sagged against him limply, hanging onto his shoulders and burying her face in the crook of his neck, as she was wont to do.

"How is it that he does this every time?" asked Layla softly a while later. Jacob had moved them so that they now lay on Layla's bed. Layla was playing with the buttons on Jacob's shirt again. Jacob kissed her short black hair before answering.

"I think – and this is only going off what little I know – that the things this Cam guy says bother you so much because you care about him."

Layla was silent, but her hands squeezed into fists, clutching Jacob's shirt.

"You're right," she whispered after a few moments of thought. She sat up and grabbed her pillow, hugging it tight to her chest. "He is my brother, and no matter how evil he is, he always will be...and I'll always care about him, and worry."

"I didn't even know you had a brother," admitted Jacob, sitting up too. He grabbed Layla's hand and twined their fingers together.

Layla smiled faintly. "Yeah, I try not to think about him lots," she replied softly, looking down at their intertwined hands. "I hadn't thought about including him in my little autobiography to you because honestly, I haven't spoken to him in over twenty years."

"Twenty years?" repeated Jacob, aghast by the length of time.

Layla's faint smile faded ever-so-slightly before hitching back up. "I know it seems like a long time to you, but to me..." She shrugged. "I've seen decades go by fast, and slow. Usually they go by fast for me."

Jacob just shook his head, awed by Layla's nonchalence. But then a frown furrowed his brow and turned his lips down.

"What's wrong?" Layla asked him, twisting so she could see his face. She lay half-on him, staring into his eyes, nose-to-nose. Jacob's arms tightened around her.

"When you said he killed a six year old...."

Layla stiffened.

"You don't have to tell me," Jacob reassured her hurriedly. "It's just a bit...disturbing to hear about."

Layla bit her lip. "I'll tell you," she said softly, putting her head down on his chest and sighing into his neck. Jacob's jaw suddenly clenched.

"I have to go now," he said stiffly, though his arms didn't loosen their hold around Layla's slight form.

Ala sat up, looking confused. "What do you mean, you have to go?"

"I have to go; I'm violating the treaty, as it were." His jaw clenched even more, and Layla swore she could hear his teeth grinding together.

"Because Edward is here?" clarified Layla, standing up from the bed. Jacob sat up and nodded. Layla sighed. "Well, call me on my mobile later, alright? I'll most likely be back out in La Push tonight. Or maybe we could go hunting together?" She looked hopeful.

"I'll call you," promised Jacob, standing. He hesitated for a moment, looking over at the open window and then back at Layla. He bit his lip.

"What is it?" asked Ala, coming and putting her hand on his arm.

Several things happened at once.

Jacob pulled Layla into his arms and stared down into her emerald eyes for a split second.

Then he grabbed her face gently and kissed her.

Layla's door banged open and a small voice said, "Oh, shit." Layla and Jacob stood there unawares, Layla's hands tangled in Jacob's shaggy hair.

The person at the door cleared their throat and Layla and Jacob sprang apart. Layla saw Bella, Lucy, Inez and Suzie standing in the doorway.

"H-hi, Bella," Jacob stammered out, his cheeks ruby red, before he turned and heaved himself out the third story window.

Layla stood alone in the middle of the room, her fingers touching her lips, her eyes wide and her cheeks blooming scarlet.

"Well, well, well," drawled Inez and Suzie at the same time.

"What's this, Layla?" demanded Lucy, stalking into the room and standing beside Layla.

"Hmm?" said Layla absently, still touching her bruised lips.

"Who was that you were just snogging?" demanded Lucy, shaking Layla's shoulder.

"That's Jacob Black," Bella offered quietly. She stared down at the floor.

Layla's hand dropped quickly and she bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Bella," she mumbled, staring at the floor too.

Bella laughed, and it was slightly bitter. "No, by all means, he's all yours. Maybe he'll leave me alone now about leaving Edward."

Lay;a's head whipped up. "He was trying to pressure you to leave Ed?" she repeated hotly. Bella nodded.

"JACOB BLACK, YOU GET YOUR _ASS _BACK HERE!" Layla roared out the window, leaning almost all the way out. "I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOUR TREATY, GET _BACK HERE_!"

"He won't come," said Bella, smiling a little wryly.

"He better," snarled Layla, "or he'll be getting bit by a shark next time he goes swimming. And I bite _hard_."

"Who are you biting now?" asked Inez, looking confused.

"Jacob," said Lucy quickly before Layla could launch into another tirade. She turned to the youngest-looking sister, but the one who was the oldest of all, and grabbed her hands, and her attention.

"Layla, this is between Bella and Jacob," she warned in a soothing voice. "You shouldn't get involved."

Layla bristled. "Are you trying to say this is none of my _business_?" she demanded hotly, yanking her hands away from Lucy's. "Jacob _made_ it my business when he tried to mess up two of my friends' _lives_!"

"Lay;a," said Bella, "Jacob wasn't that bad about it. I mean, he kissed me once, but I punched him in the face-"

Layla snorted. "Bet that hurt."

Bella chuckled and raised one of her hands, which was wrapped in a tensor bandage. "It broke my hand, his face was so hard."

Bella has successfully diffused the tension in the room by joking with Layla. She was no longer rigid with anger.

"So what's everyone doing over here?" she asked. "After all, we do have to get to school."

"We've got the day off, Lay," said Inez slowly, as though speaking to a child. "Don't you remember being all happy earlier this week because the teachers have one of the learning-conference things?"

"A P.D. Day?" clarified Layla.

"Yes," replied Bella. A wide grin spread across Layla's face and she did a little dance.

"That means I can go back to bed!" she cheered, grabbing up her pyjamas.

"No, no, no," said Lucy. "You can't go back to bed!"

Layla frowned. "And why not?"

"Because we're all going to Seattle to go shopping, remember?" Suzie rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

"No, I don't remember," objected Layla. "When did we plan this?"

No one said anything for a moment before Bella reluctantly said, "After you left to go hunting...last night."

Layla pouted. "I have a hangover and only got about four hours of sleep last night," she warned. "Let me sleep on the way or there'll be trouble."

"Me, you, Inez, Suzie, and Alice are in Alice's Mercedes, and Edward, Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie and Bella are in the Suburban," explained Lucy.

"How is that fair? We'll be smushed all together like sardines in a bloody can while they get to stretch out in the Suburban!" Layla sat down on her bed, a mulish set to her mouth.

"I'll go in the Mercedes," offered Bella. Everyone looked at her. "I want to get to know you," she explained, blushing.

Lucy and Suzie smiled. "We'd love to have you, Bella," said Inez with a grin. "And this way, Little Bear over there can stretch out across the seats and have a nap."

Everyone laughed except Layla, who blushed slightly. "I can't help that I need my sleep!" she objected weakly, and then groaned, clutching her head. "Not to mention some ibuprofen. Ye gods, all that yelling was not good at all."

"We'll stop at a McDonald's so you can get a milkshake," said Suzie, giving a long-suffering sigh. Layla smiled at her.

"HELLO DE TONYES!"

Layla winced. "Hey, Emmett, stop shouting," she groaned, clutching her head again. Emmett came pounding up the stairs, followed more sedately by Edward, Jasper, Rosalie and Alice.

"Hungover, Layla?" asked Emmett cheerfully, slapping her on the back and sending her stumbling. Layla caught herself on her dresser and stood up straight, glaring at Emmett.

"That was completely unnecessary, Emmett," she muttered before stomping out of her room, down the hall, and shutting herself in the bathroom.

"What did I do?" asked Emmett innocently.

* * *

Hehe. I just love Emmett. And what does everyone think of this chapter? They kissed, yay! Reviewreviewreview! Cookies if you do! (hey, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!)


	6. A Whole New Can of Worms

Here we go again now. Chapter six, actionactionaction! Buckle up!

By the way, does anyone know if Paul, Jared, Collin, and Brady's last names are mentioned in the books anywhere? If anyone knows them, I'd love to know too, since I'm a stickler for details :)

Also! Shout-out to moonwolf27, RosailBlackXO, casi-sand, Padfoot's love, and silversable13! yayayay! You guys have either story-alerted this or favourites-ed this, and that makes me so unbelievably happy! I'm feeling the love. I'd feel on top of the world if you reviewed though... ;)

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX**

**A Whole New Can of Worms**

By nine o'clock, Alice's Mercedes was full of people and Edward was sitting in the back of the Suburban, pouting because Emmett wouldn't let him drive. Of course, I don't mean pouting as in, little birdie is going to go land on his lip. He was more scowling than anything.

And since Edward was in the backseat (the very backseat), this meant he had to share with Layla. Layla, true to her word, dropped off to sleep the moment the Suburban hit the freeway. Edward ended up becoming a rather unwilling pillow.

So when the caravan stopped in Olympia for gas and lunch, Layla woke to find herself curled against Edward's side. He had draped his arm around her shoulders and her face was pressed against his icy neck. She blushed bright red and scrambled out of the Suburban into the McDonald's they were at. She ordered herself two large milkshakes and then sat on the curb, having a smoke.

"Do you always smoke when you're upset?" asked a voice from behind her as she stomped out the butt with her bare foot. She jumped and spun around, her hand flying to her chest, to see Rosalie standing there. The gorgeous blonde's nose was wrinkled in distaste at the smell of the cigarette smoke, but her eyes were kind and she tried to smile.

"I'm trying to quit," admitted Layla, grabbing her milkshakes from the curb and taking a long sip of one. "Just, when I get especially flustered..."

"I assume you're flustered because you fell asleep against Edward," observed Rosalie. Layla flushed red.

"Spot on," she muttered, looking at the ground.

Rosalie didn't say anything for a moment. Then, "Are you attracted to my brother?"

Layla let out an involuntary snort. "I think every girl who's ever _seen_ Edward is attracted to him, barring his family."

But Rosalie pressed on, "Would you want a relationship with him?"

Layla frowned. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Because I'm nosy," was the blonde's cheerful reply.

Layla sighed. "I can't see myself in a relationship with him. He is extremely attractive, but...I think him and Bella are Kismet. Soul mates, type of thing, y'know?"

Rose nodded. "So you and Jacob Black, then, huh?" she asked slyly, grinning.

Layla blushed but grinned. "That's what I'm hoping for," she admitted. "I feel like I've waited my whole life for him to be born. He is the only person I've ever met who can affect my moods so... drastically."

Emmett honked the horn of the Suburban impatiently and the two girls looked at each other. "It was nice talking to you, Rosalie," said Layla, beginning to walk back to the Suburban. Rosalie fell into step next to her.

"That was nice," she agreed, smiling.

So when Layla climbed into the very backseat with Edward, she was no longer uncomfortable. "Sorry for passing out on you there, Ed," she apologized with a grin.

"Not a problem," replied Edward rather formally, which stung a bit. Layla turned and leaned against the window, staring at the scenery as it flew by. Eventually she got sick of listening to Emmett's rap music and put in the headphones of her iPod, blasting Flogging Molly, just to piss Emmett off. She fell asleep against the window as the Suburban sped down the freeway.

The sound of Emmett swearing and laying on the horn woke her from her sleep and she swore too, throwing a crumpled hamburger wrapper at the back of Emmett's head. Emmett turned around furious, but the moment the two of them locked eyes they both burst out laughing. Emmett dropped his head on the wheel, howling, and the horn went on and on until Jasper poked him in the side and made him sit up.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Inez when they were finally all together at another McDonald's in Seattle. "Why was your driver honking the horn so much?"

"Emmett was driving, doesn't that tell you enough?" giggled Layla, handing the pimply boy at the cash a twenty dollar bill for her Big Mac and large shake. The boy blushed and dropped her change all over the floor, then ran off after he gave it to her. Layla raised her eyebrow and continued chatting with Inez until her food arrived. She thanked the boy who gave it to her and walked off to join Edward and Bella, and laugh at Edward's face after he tried Bella's McFlurry.

"You honestly find that good?" he demanded incredulously. Bella nodded with a grin.

"I don't, personally, because they always mess it up," offered Layla. "Dairy Queen makes awesome Blizzards. I always get Mint Oreo."

"She actually worked at a Dairy Queen when we lived in Montreal," added Lucy, slurping away on an extra-large Coke.

"All the free ice cream I could ever want," said Layla dreamily. "It was glorious working there."

"And all the girls you worked with hated you because you never exercised, or got fat, or got acne, and all the lads were sweet on you..." Lucy chuckled and slurped more of her pop.

"So, where are we going first?" asked Alice, her eyes gleaming. They were a pale gold presently, and her skin had a pearly luminescence in the gloomy day.

"Marc Jacobs!" squealed Rosalie and Lucy at the same time.

"No way," said Suzie and Jasper. They looked at each other.

"We are going to Marc Jacobs last, if we go at all," said Inez firmly, crossing her arms.

"But-"

"No buts, Lucille Hirsch, you know the rule!" scolded Layla.

"God, you sound like my mother," muttered Bella, leaning into Edward's embrace.

"I might as well be Lucy's," grumbled Layla, rooting through her backpack. "I have to make sure she doesn't spend all our money on clothes. She hasn't got a credit card anymore for that reason."

"You weren't supposed to say anything about that!" hissed Lucy, her cheeks turning red.

The group decided to go the nearest mall, a fairly large one, and split up from there. Everyone had cell phones, so they were going to be able to keep in touch. Layla wandered aimlessly, wishing she were back in La Push. Eventually Inez got sick of Layla's zombie-like state and huffed off to join Rosalie and Alice. Layla paid no mind. She simply walked around the mall with her headphones in her ears.

At four o'clock, after dragging Lucy, Rosalie and Alice from Marc Jacobs, the group convened in the parking garage beside the Mercedes. Layla was in a foul mood, perched on the hood of the Porsche beside Alice's car, surrounded by bags.

"Are we going home now?" she asked grumpily. Emmett looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"What's the matter, Sleeping Beauty, all that shopping tire you out?" he asked mockingly. Layla glared at him.

"I had no part in planning this stupid trip, so I don't see why I had to go," she snarled.

"Oh, hush, Layla," scolded Lucy. Aside to the others, she stage-whispered, "She's just stroppy 'cause that Jacob bloke hasn't called her yet."

And, as if on cue, Layla's cell phone began vibrating and howling like a wolf from her pocket. "Personalized ringtone," she explained quickly as she shimmied it out of her tight pants pocket.

"Jake?" she answered it breathlessly.

"Layla, where are you?" demanded Jacob frantically.

"I'm in Seattle 'cause some people deemed it fit to go shopping today," she replied sarcastically. But then she realized that Jacob wasn't just worried; he was bloody scared. "Why, what's the matter?"

"It's gone crazy back here!" he said loudly, and Layla winced and pulled the phone away from her ear for a second. "There's animals that don't belong running all over the place! And they all have red eyes, Layla!"

The blood drained from Layla's face and her green eyes went as wide as saucers. "No," she breathed. "Jake, sweetie, has anyone been hurt?"

"Not yet," he replied, sounding distracted. "We've got everyone from town blocked in the gym at the school and from the rez everyone is locked in their houses. And all the wolves are on patrol."

"'Kay, I'll be there as soon as I can, alright? If you see a peregrine falcon with clothes in its claws, do not attack, okay? It'll be me. I'll be there fastest I can, alright?"

"Hurry, Layla," said Jacob urgently. "We can't keep this up for much longer."

"I'll be there soon," she promised. "Hang tight, love." And then she snapped her phone shut.

"What the hell was that about?" demanded Inez.

"There's a clan of us attacking Forks and La Push," said Layla grimly, standing up and shoving bags into the Mercedes. "It's Cam and his lot. I have to go help."

"Us too!" protested Emmett.

"Emmett, you know the Quileutes won't let you on their land!" shouted Layla. "I have to go alone. You lot come in after and help us out, but stay in town, okay? We don't need treaty violations on top of this bullshit."

And then she was off and running, tearing out of the parking garage like a bullet.

* * *

**4:30 p.m.**

Layla swooped over the town of Port Angeles in the form of a peregrine falcon, her clothes in the backpack that was clenched in her talons. She was starting to lose energy; even in this form, flying from Seattle to Port Angeles in half an hour was tough for her. Every moment she spent out of her human form cost valuable strength that she couldn't afford to lose right now.

She saw the beaches of La Push below her and dove downwards, slowly shedding her form as she went. She dropped her clothes on the dry sand and landed in the deeper water with a loud splash. She surfaced with a gasp, coughing water from her lungs. Then she screamed when she felt strong arms wrap around her waist.

A hand clapped itself over her mouth. "It's just me!" Jacob whispered in her ear. She stopped struggling and he pulled his hand away. She was pressed back against his chest, her arm covering her own modestly, both of them naked as the day they'd been born.

"Why are you out here?" Layla whispered to him, turning her head slightly to look at him. He looked pale and scared.

"I figured you come out here to land," he whispered, shivering slightly.

"How's everyone doing?" asked Layla, turning her body fully to face him.

Jacob grimaced slightly. "Some kind of hybrid alligator-thing got Quil, he's at his grandfather's getting fixed up now."

Layla let out a low growl. "That's Cam," she said grimly. "Come on, we've got to go deal with this. Shift, but stay behind me alright?"

"Layla-" protested Jacob.

Layla took his face in her hands and stared into his dark eyes. "You have to trust me," she whispered. Jacob bit his lip. "Do you trust me, Jake?"

He stared down at her. "I do," he replied.

Layla didn't release him. "Then stay behind me," she said firmly. Jacob frowned but nodded reluctantly. Ala pulled away slightly, then hesitated, moved back towards Jacob and kissed him fiercely on the lips. He was surprised, but kissed her back just as hard. They both pulled away breathless.

"Stay safe," she whispered, and then pulled away from him, swimming to shallower water before turning into a large, sleek lioness. Jacob followed her, shifting as he went. Layla had gathered up her clothes and was pushing them into the backpack with one large paw. They both crept along the line of trees near the beach, watching the woods carefully. Jacob was wary, but not as wary as Layla. She slunk slowly forward, her sharp green eyes darting around, her body low to the ground, poised to pounce, attack, at any moment. Her ears twitched at any sound.

Once they broke the line of the trees, Layla stopped and listened hard. After a moment, she nodded decisively to herself and ducked behind a tree, shifting quickly into human form and pulling on her clothes.

She emerged from behind the giant oak, strapping a belt around her waist. Jacob's eyes widened at the weapons attached to it; there were two pistols, several knives, a machete, and four of what appeared to be hand grenades. Layla caught Jacob's look and quickly explained, "It's all necessary, believe me. I'm going to find Cam and see if I can talk some sense into him. And if not, well…" She shrugged, but Jacob saw the pain in her eyes at what she would have to do. He rubbed his shoulder against hers - they were at almost equal height, Jacob's shoulder standing maybe an inch taller than Layla's. Layla kissed his nose and squared her shoulders before marching further into the trees. Jacob scrambled after her.

They walked for a while together before they came across a large, empty clearing. It was not Edward's meadow that Bella had described, but it was pretty nonetheless. Layla stopped in the centre of it.

"Camgion De Tonye, show yourself!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. She pulled her Berettas from their positions on her belt and spun slowly in a circle, her sharp eyes on the trees. The woods were silent save for Jacob's breathing and her own.

Then, from her left, there was a snap of a twig from within the shadow of a huge cedar tree. She spun until she faced the tree fully, both guns cocked and ready.

"Now, Alayla," came a sugary voice from within the depths of the shadow, "is that any way to behave before your master?"

Layla let out a snarl from deep in her throat. "You ceased to be my master the day I got married," she ground out from between clenched teeth. "Any claim you had on me was forfeit when I became Jocard's wife."

"Yes," said the voice, moving closer. Jacob caught sight of eyes glinting out of the darkness and growled lowly, the fur on his back standing up.

"Jacob, you have to go," Layla whispered to him urgently. Jacob shook his large head. "Love, listen to me! He will not hesitate to kill you. Go find Sam and the others, bring reinforcements if you feel the need, but you have to go now!"

Jake let out a whine in response.

"You have to tell Sam something for me," she continued, her eyes fixed on the shadow from which the eyes glinted. "Tell him to void the treaty until this mess is over. The Cullens may be able to help us in a way no one else can. The humans will be able to do nothing but watch. Tell him that for me! Go!"

"Trying to save him, Alayla dear?" whispered the sickly-sweet voice ruthlessly. "It won't work. His alpha is dead."

Jacob let out a snarl and shook his head.

Layla smirked triumphantly. "That's where you're wrong, Camgion darling," she said mockingly. "I know for a fact that Sam Uley is alive and well." One sneakered foot shot out and hit Jacob lightly in the ribs. He looked up at her face and she jerked her head, motioning for him to leave. He let out an aggravated sigh and rubbed his big head against hers for a split second before wheeling around and darting off into the trees.

Layla was alone now, with the bastard she'd sworn to kill just that morning.

"Seems you won't have to wait long to fulfill your vow to kill me," said Cam, echoing her thoughts. He emerged from the shadows slowly.

He looked the same as Layla remembered. His skin was much fairer than hers, lacking the coppery warmth hers did. His hair was just as dark as hers, though, and pretty much the same length. He was not much taller than she was, though he was bulkier, his larger frame more muscled than Layla's slender form. His features were as aristocratic and arrogant as ever, and his blood-red eyes glared at her from under heavy brows.

She knew she looked different from the last time they'd met. She had piercings, for one, and she'd cut her hair to an effeminate length. Her eyes were more green than gold, now, since she mostly sustained herself on human food. She didn't dress like a punkster anymore either, preferring simple clothes cut to fit her form.

Layla smirked disconcertingly at Cam, but inside she was shaking with fear. This was dangerous, she knew all too well; there were scars on her body that had never entirely healed from her brother and she knew he was itching to give her more, or put her underground.

"Camgion, dear, I hope you came prepared," she called in a sugary sweet voice, cocking the guns in her hands and praying to any god that would listen that she would come out of this alive.

Cam gave Layla a smirk just as disconcerting as hers that made a shiver race down her spine, a smirk that bared his pointed teeth. Layla let out a growl from deep in her throat.

"You are going to pay for the people you've hurt," she snarled, squeezing off a shot that seemed to bounce off an invisible shield around Cam. It went wide and embedded itself in a tree. Cam laughed wickedly.

"And you are the one who will make me pay?" he crowed mockingly.

Layla lowered the gun and moved fluidly into a distinctly offensive crouch. A feral snarl ripped its way from her throat and she shot forward through the air, shifting into a large wolf, comparative to Jacob's wolf form. Cam looked faintly surprised and took half a step backwards, but it wasn't enough.

When asked later, Layla said that she couldn't remember those long minutes between lunging at Cam and later, when the forest was pitch black and Jacob was shaking her insistently, begging her to wake up. However, in the moment that she opened her eyes, became aware, she saw the gory mess not far from where she lay, and felt the sticky wetness that was on her face, and the disgusting coppery taste in her mouth. Then it was all black again.

* * *

Oooooh, a smidge of a cliffy? What's going to happen to Layla? How will this affect Jake and the pack? Did Sam listen to Layla's advice? Stay tuned!

(that sounded utterly corny and like a lame tv drama, I know.)

And please please please review! It only takes a couple seconds...and I would really appreciate it. Tell me how to make this better!


	7. The Aftermath

**A/N**: I am SO SO SO sorry that it took me this long to finish this. My muse ran away after the ice cream truck and never came back until today, when i managed to pound out the last three-quarters of this chapter. I feel awful that it took so long, but here it is...if you all haven't given up on me, leave me a review, telling me how you liked the final product? If there are any bugs I should iron out? Thank ya much.

**Disclaimer**: Still not mine...*sob* Jacob is so pretty though.

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**The Aftermath**

Layla De Tonye did not want to wake up. She was in that state, when you're not really sleeping but you're not conscious either, and she knew for sure that she didn't want to be conscious. There would be too many questions, too many horrified looks, and honestly she didn't know how to answer them.

Her body ached too. There was the sharp pain of bites on her arms, waist and leg, and deep scratches on her face and neck. She had been semi-aware when the wounds were stitched closed.

There was someone talking to her, but she didn't really want to listen. The voice couldn't undo what she did, even though she didn't rightly know what it was that she had done.

She remembered the gory mess Cam had become, and had tasted the coppery, disgusting taste of blood in her mouth. She wasn't stupid. She put two and two together and got four. Four things she was starting to remember:

One, sending Jacob away. That was probably the only moral thing she'd done all day. He wasn't a part of the feud between Layla and Cam; he needn't get caught in the crossfire.

Two, the bullets she had fired off at Cam had bounced off harmlessly. That hadn't ever happened before. She would have to have a think on what the hell happened there.

Three, she had been forced to shift. She remembered how the instincts of the wolf had nearly over-powered her - _kill! Rip the one who harmed the cubs to shreds!_ She hadn't understood who the cubs were, at the time, although now it was obvious: the cubs were the La Push pack. Layla hadn't even met most of them, aside from Jacob and Quil, but through talking to Jacob she felt bonded to them.

And four, she had apparently lost her mind and killed her own brother. It sickened her to think about it. She didn't know how her control had splintered like that.

The voice talking to her got louder. "You know, Layla, you're really scaring me right now," said Jacob. Layla's heart clenched. Jake shouldn't be afraid of anything. "Doctor Cullen doesn't know why you haven't woken up yet. You're fine, physically, at least. But what about mentally? Are you still in there, baby?" There was a slightly choked sound that almost seemed like a sob. "You gotta wake up, Layla," Jacob whispered. She could feel his hand squeezing hers. "If you don't want to do it for yourself…do it for me. Wake up for me, Layla. Let me see those eyes of yours again. Please. I don't want to do this without you. I _can__'__t _do this without you." His head leaned against her arm and, aghast, she could feel hot tears dripping onto her skin.

_That__'__s it_, she told herself. _You heard the boy - up and attem!_

Layla struggled to open her eyes but they felt like they were cemented shut. Eventually they fluttered open and she got a scintillating view of the blank white ceiling. She took a deep breath and coughed slightly.

"Layla?" Jake's head shot up. Layla turned and looked at him blearily. "Oh thank God," he whispered, gathering her up into his arms. She let out a shuddering breath and started to cry against his shoulder. He peppered kisses against her hair, mumbling under his breath, incoherent phrases she couldn't understand.

"Jake, what happened?" Layla asked, her eyes starting to well up again. She bit her lip hard to keep from starting to cry again.

Jake looked at her keenly with those beautiful dark eyes of his. "You don't remember?" he asked quietly.

"No," Layla whispered, lowering her eyes to her hands that were clenched into fists on top of the stark white sheets. There was a sutured scratch on the back of her hand.

"Do you want me to tell you?" Jake asked cautiously, lifting her chin with one big finger. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

Jake sighed. "I met up with you out in the water. You were leading me through the forest - you were looking for _him_." He said _him_ as though it were a vile disease. "We came to a clearing and I think you knew right away that he was there. You sent me away to get Sam. I spoke to him but I didn't leave…I'm sorry for that." He looked at her sadly. "I heard your argument with Cam. I saw when your shots bounced off that shield of his, and when you transformed into the wolf." He paused. "You were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen." He shook his head and continued. "You jumped at him…somehow you could get through the shield even though your bullets couldn't. You attacked him, stopped him so that he can never hurt another person, Layla. La Push and Forks are safe now, thanks to you."

Layla stared at the wall. "I sort of woke up, when you found me," she whispered hesitantly. "I could taste the blood in my mouth." She paused, cringing. "I-I ripped his throat out."

"You did," confirmed Jake, tightening his hold on her. She had started to shake. "You didn't draw it out, though, Layla, you made it quick. He was in pain for only a moment. If it had been me in your place, I would have made him suffer." Jake's eyes darkened perceptively.

"Did anyone get hurt?" asked Layla faintly, leaning her head against his chest. He sighed and kissed her short inky hair.

"Quil did. He's on the mend though, and milking it for all it's worth. Your sisters and the Cullens came and protected Forks. Lucy got a bit dinged up but she's fine too."

"Where are they?"

"Layla, it's three in the morning. They're at home, sleeping." Jacob smiled at her. "Your sleeping schedule's all messed up now, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Layla found herself getting tired again. "Don't let me sleep too long, love. Don't wanna miss anything…" She trailed off, yawning.

"Of course not, baby." He settled her comfortably on the bed but she refused to let go of his arm.

"Jake…will you hold me?" Layla asked. Her vulnerability shone clearly in her eyes and he couldn't say no.

When Inez, Suzie, Lucy, Jasper and Emmett came in the next morning, they found Layla and Jake together on the bed. Jake's feet dangled off the end and Layla was nestled comfortably against his chest. The creases in her forehead, which had been present while she'd been unconscious, had smoothed and she looked utterly relaxed.

So Lucy did the only thing she could think of doing.

She took a picture of them.

* * *

It was several days before Layla could stay awake for longer than a couple hours. Nightmares now plagued her sleep, although with Jacob a permanent fixture in her hospital room, they were not as bad as they could have been. Sam had let Jacob off patrols until Layla was better, and Jake was thankful. He didn't want to spend a moment more than necessary away from Layla.

Excepting the talk she'd had with Jacob when she first woke up, Layla refused to speak about what happened between her and Cam in the clearing. Her sisters and friends soon learned not to badger her, especially when Jacob was around, which he always was.

One day when Inez had gotten particularly rude about asking, Jacob had snarled at her and growled, "Are you that stupid that you can't tell she _doesn__'__t want to fucking talk about it?__"_ The topic was studiously avoided after that. Everyone became well aware of the fact that Jacob was rabid in his protection of his girl.

Two weeks after that fateful day in the woods, Layla was released from Forks Hospital. She walked out under her own power, but barely. Jake had to help her into the Rabbit and she fell asleep on the way to her house. It had been decided that Jacob would stay with Layla for as long as it was needed, and that stay at the De Tonye house extended to sleeping in Layla's room with her in her big bed. During the nights, when Layla's nightmares were fiercest, Jacob's arms around her tight quelled them and held them back. If she did happen to succumb to a dream of that night, Jacob would wake her up at the first instant of unhappiness and hold her until she drifted back to sleep.

A month to the day that it happened, Layla convinced Jacob to take her back to the clearing. The rain had washed the blood away and the only physical evidence that it ever happened were the bullets in the tree and the deep gouges in the bark and the ground. Layla didn't say a word, she just sat down on the grass and stared at the bullet tree.

"I don't know if it was such a great idea to bring you here," muttered Jacob, sitting down next to her. He eyed her carefully. She turned and looked at him, her expression bleak.

"It had to be done," she said dully. Her voice was hoarse - she had hardly spoken since that day.

"Layla…" Jacob sighed. His arm went around her shoulders but she remained stiff. "Come on, Lay, let's go home."

Her eyes returned to stare at the tree. "Not yet."

Jacob groaned and ran a hand through his short hair. "I didn't know you were a masochist," he grumbled under his breath, standing up and starting to pace.

"This isn't me being masochistic, Jacob," she said serenely. "This is me remembering."

"Same thing!" Jacob was annoyed that it only took three of his long paces to cross the clearing.

"No. Not the same thing. I'm not remembering that day, Jacob, I'm remembering Cam as he once was." There was a small, sad smile on her lips. "Before the plague and the change and the death of his wife."

"So he was changed in that same plague as you were," said Jacob, still pacing.

"It was the same one, yes, but he wasn't in our village then. He had left, was living in a Roman fort with his Roman wife."

"Huh?"

Layla let out a ghost of a laugh. "Don't you know your history? The Roman Empire had complete control of Britain by 300 AD. My brother had moved south, to Hadrian's Wall. He met Maria, they fell in love, they got married. She was pregnant when the plague hit. She died almost right away, but Cam changed instead. And he's spent the rest of his existence avenging the death of Maria and his unborn child."

Jacob stopped pacing and sat next to Layla again. "How does killing innocent people avenge his wife?"

Layla sighed. "There's something you must understand first, Jacob. Not all Shifters are like my sisters and me. We're the odd ones, really. Nearly all Shifters feed from human flesh."

"Like vampires?" Jacob was morbidly fascinated.

"Like and yet not. Vampires drink the blood - Shifters eat everything but the bones, most of the time."

"Ew."

"Yeah, ew," repeated Layla, a tiny grin forming itself on her face. "That's precisely why we girls don't do that. It gets really messy sometimes, 'specially if the Shifter is really hungry."

"Sort of like the leaches - sorry, the vampires." Jake corrected himself quickly at Layla's glare, but he really didn't mind. She was starting to open up again and it made him happier than he'd ever been, except for the times when she had kissed him.

"Yes, sort of like the vampires." Layla gnawed on her lip. "It's a lonely existence."

Jacob looked at the ground. It had never occurred to him that Layla was indeed immortal, and unless he continued phasing constantly, he was going to grow old and die, and Layla would stay young and forever seventeen. He couldn't bear the thought.

"Is…is there any way to reverse the mutation? So that you'll age?" he asked hesitantly.

Layla cast her eyes at the ground too. "There is a way, but it's very difficult and it's only worked a handful of times in the existence of Shifters," she replied just as hesitantly. "I've been studying the methods for a couple centuries now and I think I could do it, but…"

"You have no reason to," surmised Jacob, turning away and tearing up a handful of grass. Layla's hand appeared in his line of vision and he looked at her. Her eyes still had that somewhat-frantic spark in them, but they had regained most of their liveliness.

"I have a reason now," she said softly. He couldn't look away. The swirling of green and gold in her eyes was almost hypnotizing.

"What's your reason?" he asked faintly.

Layla's lips twitched in a smile. "You silly boy," she teased softly. "You're the reason. I…never, in all my life, has anyone ever affected me the way you do. I can't get you off my mind. I dream about you, I dream about what it would be like if I could age and grow old with you." She blushed faintly and looked down, breaking the spell that her eyes had put Jacob under. He looked at her for a moment, seeing her profile, the slope of her nose and the constant slight pout of her lips.

"You know, there's something I didn't tell you about the werewolf thing," he said, his voice hesitant. "Something…I used to think was just the worst thing ever, but now…"

Layla raised her head and look at him curiously, a hint of her former spirit sparking in her eyes.

"Have you ever heard of imprinting?" asked Jacob softly, ripping up more grass.

"Isn't that that thing that baby animals do with their mothers?" replied Layla, sounding unsure.

"Yeah, but there's another form of it," said Jacob. "When the animal finds its mate. Imprinting for the pack, it's finding our soul mate, the one made especially for us."

Layla smiled slightly. "Sounds sweet."

"I used to think it was terrible," said Jacob, surprising Layla. "And I'll tell you why. I've told you about Leah, right? How she's really bitter and bitchy?" Layla nodded. "She used to be our Alpha's girlfriend, back in the day. Sam and Leah were high school sweethearts, pretty much inseparable. Sam actually proposed to Leah, but she wasn't ready so she turned him down. He waited for her.

"But then Leah's cousin Emily, from the Makah rez, came to visit. The moment Sam saw her, he imprinted. He tried to fight it, because he loved Leah, but there's no denying that pull. It's like…gravity has shifted. The Earth isn't holding you here anymore, she is. She's your reason for living. Anyway, Sam broke up with Leah, and he tried to get Emily to admit to what she felt for him. She kept turning him down and pushing him away since she didn't want to hurt Leah, they used to be like sisters. One day they were arguing and Sam lost control." Jacob shuddered as Sam's memories, shared through the pack mind, surfaced. "He attacked Emily. She's got scars on her face and all down her side now, from him. He beat himself up about it so bad that Emily started to feel bad too, and she comforted him. She fell in love with him. And Leah's never been the same."

Layla stayed quiet for a moment. "That's terrible," she said softly.

"Yeah."

Layla sucked in a deep breath and let it out with a gusty _whoosh_. "And you…you imprinted…on me?"

Jacob met her eyes and she saw in them all the love and affection and devotion that Jacob held for her. She bit her lip shakily.

"You know," she said softly, "after that night I spent at your house, I couldn't believe how much I felt for you. It felt like I'd been waiting my entire existence for you." She let out a short, barking laugh. "I guess I'm not as crazy as I thought."

Jacob chuckled and wrapped his long arm around Layla's shoulders. "You're my gravity, Layla. I love you."

A smile spread itself slowly, incredulously, across her face and she started laughing happily. She launched herself into Jacob's arms and they toppled backward, both laughing. Layla lay on Jacob's chest and stared at him for a moment, smiling, before leaning forward and pressing her lips to his in a firm kiss, which Jacob deepened almost immediately.

Jacob and Layla were officially dating after that day, and everyone saw how happy Layla became, and how well she recovered from Cam's death, all because of Jacob. Jacob made her happier than she'd ever been.

* * *

Two years to the day that they met, Jacob and Layla were down at a private cove near First Beach, having a picnic lunch and talking and laughing.

"Come on, Layla, I have something I want to show you," said Jacob once they were finished eating, smiling mischievously and leading her by the hand up onto the cliff nearby. The view of the sunset was absolutely incredible from that vantage point, and when Layla turned to tell him how gorgeous it was, she found herself looking at open air where his shoulder should have been. She looked down and there he was, down on one knee, the sweet smile on his face all for her.

"Oh, Jake…"

His smile widened into a grin and he pulled a small velvet box out of the pocket of his shorts. "Yeah, Layla, but shut up and let me do this right." His eyes twinkled brightly at her as he sucked in a deep breath and let it out with a _whoosh_. "Alayla De Tonye, I love you more than anything in the whole world. You are my gravity and there will never be anyone else for me, as long as I live. Will you do me the honour of marrying me?" He fumbled with the ring box for a moment and then presented the ring within it to her. It was simple and unassuming, a silver band with an emerald in the middle and a diamond on either side. It was gorgeous.

"Oh, gods, Jacob, yes!" said Layla, her hand over her mouth. He beamed at her and slid the ring carefully onto her finger, where it fit perfectly. She pulled him up and launched herself into his arms, pressing a firm kiss against his lips. "Fuck, I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

Almost another year had passed before the wedding happened, a wedding that outshone even Bella and Edward Cullen's wedding. The De Tonye-Black wedding was set for the third Saturday in August. The day dawned cloudy but the rain held off, and the wedding guest list was able to stay at its full size.

Jacob Black had his best friend, Quil Ateara, as his best man, and Embry Call, Seth Clearwater, and Sam Uley were his groomsmen. All of them approved whole-heartedly to the marriage and were more than happy to stand for Jacob.

Layla De Tonye had her oldest sister, Inez, as her maid of honour, and Suzie, Lucy, and Emily Uley as bridesmaids. Since she began to date Jacob, Layla had grown quite close to Emily and considered her like another sister. Embry had become quite taken with Suzie and Seth with Lucy, so the couples worked out quite nicely. Quil's imprint, Claire, was six years old and the flower girl. Inez had been dating Paul Collins, another member of the pack, since Layla and Jacob introduced them shortly after they started dating. Inez didn't know it, but Paul had imprinted on her and planned to propose soon.

The wedding ceremony was held on First Beach in La Push at sundown, since it had gotten progressively sunnier over the course of the day and the Cullens had to go hunt before the wedding, just to be safe. They wouldn't be showing up for the meal part of the reception - they planned to cite car troubles and Emmett's poor digestive system as the reason for being late.

Layla wore a white dress, as is tradition for weddings, but hers wasn't a puffy ball gown type. It was fitted tightly to her body all the way to her waist, where it flared out gently in layers of satin that pooled around her feet. It was strapless and the white shone like pearls in contrast with the bronze of her skin. Despite Inez's protests, she wore a pair of simple white ballet flats, left over from Lucy's days as a ballet dancer in Germany before the Holocaust. Lucy Hirsch had been a renowned dancer, even though she was Jewish. It was assumed by the masses that she had died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz and Lucy Hirsch was mourned while Lucy De Tonye began a new life as an immortal shape shifter.

The shoes were the something old; Layla's dress was the something new; the something borrowed were the two pins, covered in pearls, that held back Layla's fringe, borrowed from Alice Cullen; and the necklace that Layla wore around her throat, twining silver threads studded through with sapphires, was the something blue.

The ceremony was perfect and both were ecstatic to have made it official – Quil and Inez ended up pulling the newly-weds apart when their first kiss went on a little too long. The pavilion was filled with laughter.

The reception was equally filled with laughter – Quil's speech had most of the Pack rolling on the floor like the dogs they were. The meal had been cooked by Layla, Emily, the other imprints, and Esme Cullen, and even with the appetites of the Pack there was still a lot of food left over. After dinner came the dancing.

For their first dance, Layla had left the song choice entirely up to Jacob. She had no idea what it was going to be, he kept it a surprise. So when the song started playing, Layla raised her eyebrows at Jake from the circle of his arms as they swayed around the dancefloor.

"Kenny Chesney?" said Layla. "I'm surprised."

"You don't like it?" asked Jake anxiously, his brow furrowing.

"No, no, Jake, I love it," Layla hastily reassured him, kissing him gently. "I'm just surprised. I'm the one that likes country, not you."

"You've got me hooked now," Jake admitted with a pearly white grin. They laughed together and Layla laid her head against Jake's chest.

"It's perfect," Layla said softly.

"_You__'__re _perfect," said Jake, brushing his lips over her hair. Layla blushed.

The rest of the night was spent dancing and laughing, until the reception finally wound down around two o'clock in the morning. Layla and Jake said goodbye to everyone, Layla swatted Quil for his wink and fake-innocent question about whether Layla was a screamer and if the hotel they were going to ought to give out free earplugs to the other patrons, and the newlyweds clambered into the Rabbit and drove off.

Layla fell asleep on the way to Seattle, leaned against the window, and she only woke up as Jake lifted her out of her seat.

"We there already?" she mumbled sleepily, blinking in the bright lights.

"Yeah, I already checked in," said Jake quietly. "Here, I'll carry you. Go back to sleep baby."

"Like I'm gonna fall asleep again," said Layla under her breath. "I'm wide awaaaaaaaaaaaaaake." Her yawn stretched the word out and Jake laughed. "Oh shut up."

She managed to make Jake let her walk into the hotel and into the elevator but once it reached their floor he picked her up and carried her down the hall. They stopped in front of a door and Layla ended up getting the key out of Jake's pocket for him and unlocking the door before Jake carried her over the threshold and kicked the door shut behind them.

* * *

The next morning Layla woke up to the feeling of silk sheets and warm sunlight against her bare skin and Jacob's arms wrapped around her tight. She smiled and basked the happiness that had overtaken her completely since their first kiss as man and wife.

"You awake?" mumbled Jake from behind her. His arm tightened around her waist for a moment then loosened.

Layla made a noise of assent and rolled over so she faced him. His eyes were still closed but he smiled and she kissed him softly.

"Good morning Mrs Black," he said, opening his eyes and staring at her adoringly. She grinned widely.

"Good afternoon, Mr Black," she replied. "I have to get up, I'm getting stiff from just laying here." She tried to get up but Jacob's arms held her in place.

He put his lips next to her ear and whispered huskily, "So am I." Layla jerked away and stared at him for a moment before she collapsed next to him, laughing her head off. Jacob started laughing too and then with a growl he stood on the bed, meaning to pick Layla up and carry her off, but he slammed his head into the ceiling and started to curse. Layla only laughed harder until she felt like she couldn't breathe.

"You'll pay for that," growled Jake, jumping off the bed and picking her up. She screeched and laughed her head off all the way to the bathroom.

* * *

It was nearly a year since they were married that Layla went to Jacob one day, her hands shaking and biting her lip in nervousness. She hadn't been herself in weeks, and even their friends were starting to notice.

"Layla, what's wrong?" demanded Jake immediately when he saw his wife's pale, nervous face.

"You might want to sit down, love," suggested Layla, sitting down on the bed herself. Jake knelt in front of her and took her hands in his own.

"What is it?" he asked softly, looking worried out of his wind.

"You know how – how I mentioned, a long time ago, that I could stop the mutation?" That conversation had been almost four years ago but Jacob remembered it like it was yesterday. He nodded. "Well…" Layla trailed off, biting her lip. "I..I managed to do it. I've been aging."

Jake stared at her for a moment before a wide grin crossed his face and he launched himself at Layla in a hug. "You had me worried!" he admonished. "I thought it was something serious, you were sick or something!"

Layla smiled slightly, her nervousness not entirely gone. "Well there's something else, Jake…" She bit her lip again. "I'm pregnant."

Jacob's whoop was heard a block away at Sam's house.

* * *

Nearly five months later, Layla gave birth to identical twin boys. They were a little early but the doctor said they were perfectly healthy. Layla and Jacob named then Daniel Jethro and Jack William.

Two years after Danny and Jack were born, they got a sister, Sarah Rose, and another brother, Benjamin Matthew. Billy, Jake's dad, lived to see all his grandchildren graduate high school, all with honours.

And as corny as it sounds, they lived happily ever after.

* * *

This is the end of the road, folks. Not quite the marathon I was hoping for, but there you have it. By the way, the wedding song is You Had Me From Hello by Kenny Chesney. Review, please please please? :)


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